Photo by Mike Piotrowski
The Southern Maryland Athletic Conference was host to some of the most competitive meets of the 2019 fall season. North Point and Chopticon emerged as the class of the conference, each led by a strong duo (Joshua Doughty and DeVion Bryant for North Point, the Wedding brothers for Chopticon). Doughty (above, right) broke away at the conference meet, leading the Eagles to a tiebreaker win over the Braves. A week later, Bryant emerged as the star at the regional meet, and North Point beat Chopticon by ten points. At the 3A state meet, the Wedding brothers, Zachary (third) and Jeffrey (fifth) were the conference's top two finishers.
This year, both Doughty and the Wedding duo are back. Five teams stand out as possible contenders for the team title this year, offering potential for another airtight finish at the top of the team standings this spring.
Photo by Keeley Olson
While the tie between North Point and Chopticon was the main headline from last year's conference championships, the Leonardtown boys weren't that far behind in third place. The deepest team in the conference put seven runners before Chopticon or North Point's sixth, and they return five of their top six runners from the team that competed at last year's state meet.
Photo by John Roemer
Could this be the year that Huntingtown - one of the youngest programs in the SMAC - breaks into the top two at the conference championships? They placed third in 2017 and fourth last year, and while senior leader Conor McGirr has since graduated, rising junior Thomas Foulkes gives the Hurricanes another rising star. Foulkes was primed for a breakout track season after setting personal bests in the 1600 (4:31) and 3200 (9:55) last winter.
Photo by Craig Amoss
One of just five boys in the conference who returns having run under 17 minutes in the 5K, Patuxent's Logan Musumeci is also one of the top returning boys in the 2A classification. He became the first boy in Patuxent history to break 10 minutes in the indoor 3200 last winter when he broke out with a 9:56, third-place effort at the 2A state meet in February.
Photo by Keeley Olson
Despite suffering heavy graduation losses that set them back from their dominant levels from years before, the Calvert boys still had enough depth last year to pace the 2A South region. Although senior Carter Singletary is gone, the Cavaliers are still one of just three teams in the conference to return three boys who ran under 18 minutes last year. Could freshmen David Rodenhaver (above left) and Jack Hartsig (above right) be the leaders of the next excellent Calvert teams?