May 21-23, 1998 at University of Maryland Baltimore County,
Baltimore MD
1998 Maryland State Meet
Highlights and Thoughts
Highlights and observations by John Dye after 3 days at the State
Meet.
Newcomers | Kathy
Messner | How Does Buddy Do That? | About Ato Modibo |
Multiple Winners
Winners of 3 events:
BOYS: Tuan Wreh, Richard
Montgomery, 3A LJ-TJ-HJ; Kyle Farmer, Oakland Mills, 1A 100-200-400;.
GIRLS: Teyarnte Carter,
Long Reach, 2A 100-200-400.
Winners of 2 events:
BOYS: Ato Modibo, High Point, 4A
200-400; Sheldon Hutchinson, Gaithersburg, 4A LJ-TJ; Derrick
Stanfield, Milford Mill, 3A 200-400; Joel Brown, Woodlawn,
110HH-300IH; Jason Caesar, McDonough, 2A 100-200; Chris Smith,
Long Reach, 2A LJ-TJ; Andrew Long, Oakland Mills, 1A SP-DT; Richard
Bright, Hammond, 1A HH-IH.
GIRLS: Pun Chittchang, South
Carroll, 3A, LJ-TJ; Amber Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, 4A 200-400; Andrew
Pressley, Douglass-PG, 200-400; Jen Geroux, Parkville, 3A
1600-3200; Thema Napier, Long Reach 2A 800-300IH; Meagan Verdeyen,
North Hagerstown, SP-DT; Amber Day, Oakland Mills, 1A 100-400; Heather
Abucevicz, Mt. Savage, 1A SP-DT; Korin Miller, Rising Sun, 1A
1600-3200.
Newcomers
Freshman gold medal winners
BOYS: Kyle Farmer, Oakland Mills, 1A 100-200-400; Greg
McCormick, Middletown, 2A HJ.
GIRLS: Randy Buzzell,
Middletown, 2A 1600; Lee McDuff, River Hill, 2A 3200; Rolanda
Howard, Long Reach 2A LJ; Nasozi Kakembo, Hammond, 1A HJ.
Kathy
Messner Missing
The 1A girls competition was missing Catoctin senior
Kathy Messner, who suffered a severe hamstring pull in the Frederick County meet two weeks
earlier. This stopped one of the biggest state meet gold medal runs at 12 in indoor
and outdoor championships. Despite the injury, Penn State University was happy to
get Kathy's signature on a national letter of intent.
How
does Buddy do that?
They say that quality counts at the state meet, but Smithsburg coach Buddy
Orndorff confounded that logic again to win the 1A girls championship for the third
straight year. Smithsburg's "quality" included only one gold medal (4x400
relay) versus Oakland Mills' four individual wins, but the Lady Leopards won the title,
74-67. This was a repeat of 1996, when Smithsburg overcame four gold medals by
Catoctin's Kathy Messner; and 1997, when Smithsburg overcame 70 points by Long Reach's
terrific T's (Teyarnte Carter and Thema Napier). Coach Orndorff is a master at
using his whole roster and scheming for bonus points wherever they are available.
This year, with Kathy Messner absent, Orndorff saw an opportunity in triple jump.
Heather Jenkins, Smithburg's star sprinter, does not usually triple jump.
But she was entered in the regional and qualified for the state meet with a 30-11
jump. A week's practice raised that by two feet, improving Heather from ninth seed
to third place at UMBC for six points, just about the margin of victory for the team.
Smithsburg also built on double scorers in the throws (2-5 and 2-3) and the
horizontal jumps (5-6 and 3-5).
Smithsburg's three-peat was all the more notable considering they started
the season without two key team members. Last year's freshman sprint star Michelle
Primous moved to North Carolina, where she was ranked in the top five in the 100, 200, and
400, and was on Charlotte Independence's state champion 4x100 relay team (as LaTonya
Collins). Charas Heurich, a solid distance runner, was killed in an auto accident
last November. Several Smithsburg girls thought of Charas as they took their victory
lap around the UMBC oval.
About Ato
Modibo
Ato Modibo will now take his brilliant speed to Clemson after a state meet
that didn't live up to last year's 40-point explosion, but still wasn't bad. The
High Point senior won the 200 and 400, but false started himself out of the 100 meter
trials. In the 4x400 relay, Modibo had insufficient support. He overcame a big
deficit in the third leg, but had to watch as James Graham of Northwestern-PG romped
through the anchor leg to win by five seconds. The only consolation for High Point
was that Northwestern was 35 hundredths too slow to break High Point's state record.
