Cross Country

Simply put, it was Boonsboro's day Saturday at the Maryland State Cross Country Championships at Hereford High School. Senior Sarah Zielinski won an individual title, and the Warriors swept the boys and girls team titles in Class 1A, conquering the hilly 3-mile course and everyone in their way. “What a day,” said Boonsboro coach Becky Walter. “It ended the way we hoped it would end, and it doesn't happen very often like that.” It's never happened quite like that for the Warriors - or any other cross country program in Washington County.

The team title eluded the Williamsport boys again Saturday at the Maryland State Cross Country Championships at Hereford High School. For the second straight year, the Wildcats were the runners-up in Class 2A, although it was harder to settle for second this year. Catoctin, a team Williamsport had beaten four times this season, won with 77 points, while Williamsport finished with 92 and Kent Island was a distant third (145) in the 22-team field. After the race, Randy Buchman said he was stepping down as Williamsport's coach, a position he's held for 13 years.

For the Boonsboro girls, it's been since 1995. For the Williamsport boys, it's been even longer - 1975. And for the Boonsboro boys, it's never happened at all. But they all have reason to believe that the title runs will happen for them Saturday, as they try to capture the elusive team crowns at the Maryland State Cross Country Championships on Hereford High School's infamously hilly 3-mile course. Boonsboro, which will compete in Class 1A, will try to become the first Washington County school to win both girls and boys titles in the same year.

Catoctin finally caught Williamsport. The Cougars edged the Wildcats 80-85 to win the boys team title at the Maryland Class 2A West Cross Country Championships on Friday. Oakdale finished third (98) in the 12-team field. Williamsport had defeated Catoctin four times this season, most recently by 16 points for the title at the MVAL Antietam championships on Oct. 19. “Catoctin just had a really great day. You have to give them credit,” Williamsport coach Randy Buchman said.

The Hagerstown Community College men's and women's cross country teams put on a show for their fans Saturday at Washington County Regional Park, convincingly sweeping the Region XX Division 1 and Maryland JuCo Conference titles in one fell swoop. “It was a dominating performance in front of the home crowd,” said Nick Snyder, who's in his first season as the Hawks' cross country coach. “This was our only chance to run at home this season. We wanted to put on a quality meet and run well.” Winning the region titles also qualified both Hagerstown teams for the national championship meet on Nov. 10 in Ina, Ill. While it was the eighth straight region title for the Hagerstown men, it was the first since 1999 for the women.

Saturday, October 13, 2012 PREP CROSS COUNTRY IJAMSVILLE, Md. - Williamsport had all seven of its runners in the top 25 as the Wildcats topped a field of 13 teams to win the boys title at the Urbana Invitational on Saturday. Cody Bowman placed fourth in 16:20.9 to lead Williamsport, which finished with 65 points. Century edged Oakdale 98-101 for second. Also for the Wildcats, Caleb Buchman was 11th (16:43.6), Scott Long was 13th (16:54.8), Austin Schetrompf was 18th (17:08.5)

The St. Maria Goretti boys cross country team finished with a flurry. The Gaels won their second straight title at the third annual Hagerstown City Championship at Hagerstown Community College on Monday to wrap up their six-meet season schedule - just two days after they successfully defended their title at the Independent-Parochial School League Championship. “Last year there were nine days between the IPSL and city championships, but due to scheduling there were only 48 hours this year,” Goretti coach Mike Spinnler said.