Dulaney Shows Well at Barnhart Invitational

You could get a sense what kind of day it was for the Dulaney High School cross country teams just by watching the interaction between the boys and girls team members following the 28th annual Richard Barnhart Invitational Saturday on their home course.

The girls enthusiastically told everyone within earshot about how great their showing was, while the young boys seemed to be quietly content with their results.

Dulaney's girls placed all seven runners among the top 25, led by sophomore Krissy Link's eighth-place finish, to be second overall out of 12 teams behind defending Frederick County champion Governor Thomas Johnson High School. Link covered the 3.1-mile course in 20:17, with junior teammate Sydney Glenn placing ninth in 20:41. Dulaney also had runners finish 10th, 12th, 17th, 21st and 25th.

While the boys would have preferred to see a few more of their runners place among the upper tier of finishers, all seven of their athletes finished among the top 53 in a field of 130 en route to a sixth-place finish out of 19 teams. Junior Andrew Woodard led the way for the boys with a 17th-place finish and a solid time of 17:00.

"I was really excited with my finish," said Link. "I felt pretty good throughout the race. Not amazing, but pretty good. The team did an amazing job today."

Said Woodard: "I was hoping to finish in the top 10 and come in under 17 minutes, so I came up a little short on one of my goals. The team usually is looking to place more runners in the top group, but it's always good for us all to be near the top 50."

Head coach Chad Boyle echoed his runners' sentiments. "I was pleased with how we performed overall," he said. "There always are things that we can work on, but overall we did really, really well."

In the girls' competition Thomas Johnson placed three runners among the top four and finished with 44 points. Savanna Plombon was the individual champion, easily outdistancing the pack with a time of 18:39.

Dulaney totaled 56 points to finish second, 16 points in front of third-place Catonsville, thanks in part to a strong finish by sophomore Rose Beebe, the fourth Dulaney finisher, who surged past an opponent in the final few yards to steal a point with a 12th-place finish in 21:03.

Dulaney's third runner to finish was senior Abbie Trippe (10th, 20:54) and Emily Abell was the fifth Dulaney finisher, placing 17th with a time of 21:12. She was followed by junior Emily Oliver (21st, 21:53) and Dominique DiPino (25th, 22:05).

Loyola Blakefield's Matt Jablonski cruised to the individual title in the boys' race with an eye-popping time of 15:14. His showing, combined with two other top 15 finishes helped the Dons capture the team crown as well with 61 points.

Woodard was followed into the chute for the Lions by 26th-place finisher Quinn Marvel (17:26), 32nd place finisher Malcom Peacock (17:33.40), 41st-place finisher J.C. Senatore (17:48), 45th-place finisher Stewart Sharun (17:42), 52nd-place finisher Josh Bond (18:05) and 53rd-place finisher Jon Anderson (18:05.30).

Woodard said he felt "pretty good" throughout and remained among the same grouping for much of the race. "I tried to stay in the same group the whole time and then pick a few runners off at the end. It definitely helped to run on our home course – a home-field advantage. I knew when to push, and through experience I knew where some kids might drop off a bit."

Link also said running on a familiar course was an advantage to her, because "I really knew when to accelerate." She remained among the top eight throughout the 3.1-mile course.

An obviously pleased Boyle continued to look at more than just the day's results, choosing to focus on how the two squads might fare later in the season.

"Our boys are very young and really held their own. Our first three guys are juniors, and for Andrew, although it wasn't his personal best, for a season opener he did really well. The girls were very good, but still can improve … We are very deep and have tons of girls who will compete to fill the top seven spots.

"What we need is for someone to step up and fill the one and two spots and become frontrunners. Sydney and Krissy right now look like the ones who will do that, which will make us really strong by the time the championship season comes along."

The Lions are in action this coming week, competing in a pair of tri-meets against at Chesapeake and Franklin in preparation for the 100-plus-team Hereford Bull Run Invitational two weeks from today.

Click here for complete results from today's invitational.