Track And Field

No. / School / Prev. 1. / McDonogh / 1 2. / Liberty / 2 3. / Hereford / 3 4. / Severna Park / 4 5. / South River / -- 6. / John Carroll / -- 7. / Dulaney / -- 8. / Milford Mill / -- 9. / Western Tech / 8 10. / Northwestern / -- Other teams considered: Franklin, Harford Tech, River Hill, Western

3 Hereford's margin of defeat in last spring's Class 3A state championship meet at Morgan State. The Bulls scored 63 points, but Thomas Johnson won the title with 66. 13 Events out of 18 that the McDonogh girls won en route to repeating as the IAAM team champion last spring. 73.5 Liberty's team score to win the Class 2A state championship last year over second-place Largo (62 points).

The times are changing in track and field. In previous years, it was common to see teams bring only a handful of athletes to big meets and perform well -- sometimes even win. Coaches would routinely put their best athletes into four events and hope for as many points as possible. That concept, however, has changed recently. The event limit for an individual athlete remains four, and some coaches still use that tactic. But it isn't done as often as it was about 10 years ago because track and field has become more popular.

Hale Bullen Annapolis, senior After a cross country season in which he was named the Runner of the Year, Bullen continued his success during the indoor track season. The Navy-bound senior won the Class 3A state title in the 3,200 meters last month. Vince Ciattei Perry Hall, senior Developing into one of the state's top distance runners, Ciattei pulled off the tough sweep of the 1,600 and 3,200 in Class 4A to finish a strong indoor track season. He was also an All-Metro first-team pick in cross country.

Laurel Park Mr Palmer wins Private Terms Stakes Mr Palmer had all the worst of it and still won the $150,000 Private Terms Stakes going away Saturday at Laurel Park. After hopping at the start and breaking last, Mr Palmer settled behind eight other 3-year-olds under Junior Alvarado and stayed there through the first turn. Alvarado began to urge his mount entering the backstretch and got to work on the son of Pulpit approaching the far turn, taking him eight wide into the stretch before reaching Where's Dominic and Battier just past the eighth pole.

- Hereford coach Brad Duvall said early in Tuesday night's state indoor track and field championship that he truly spread out his lineup in an attempt to gain points. That strategy paid off as Sarah Ashwood and several others helped the No. 3 Hereford girls team win its second consecutive Class 3A state title at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. The Bulls finished with 66.67 points, beating out Thomas Stone (52), even though the Bulls won just one of the 13 events.

The Century and Pikesville boys took similar paths to indoor track and field state titles Monday afternoon at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. The two teams relied on depth and balance to score throughout the meet. That's a big reason No. 2 Century won its second state title in three years and why the Panthers scored their first in school history. Pikesville scored in 12 of the 13 events and finished with 110 points, outlasting Boonsboro (102) to earn the Class 1A state crown.