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O'Connor tops SMAC boys
Pats, Panthers finish in top 3 in boys; Northern third in girls at SMAC cross country meet
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
Northern junior Ryan O'Connor pumped his arms back and forth with his hair flowing in the wind that trailed him on his way to the finish line at the SMAC cross country meet at Greenwell State Park in Hollywood on Wednesday.
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN
Northern's Ryan O’Connor crosses the finish line first on Wednesday.
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As he crossed the finish line in 16 minutes 29 seconds, O'Connor's hair fell still, but he was indeed the SMAC individual champion.
"It feels really great," O'Connor said of his SMAC win. "[Graduated] Andrew Cerrito did it the last two years … and it is kind of fun to take over the Northern legacy. … During that home stretch, I was dead, but inside I felt so alive. It was open and the sun was beaming down on me."
O'Connor's performance in combination with strong performances across the Northern roster, including a 10th-place finish from teammate Tim Wieroniey (18:05), helped the Patriots finish second overall as a team with 72 points.
Leonardtown won the boys crown with 35 team points, and Patuxent finished third overall with 109 points.
The second-place team finish was indeed a great way for Northern first-year head coach T.J. Howell to end the conference season.
"Our guys have put in extreme amounts of work this year," Howell said. "Everything I have asked them to do, they have done. Winning SMAC was always our goal, but coming in second place with the talent in SMAC, it's rewarding."
On O'Connor's day, Howell added: "That was an unbelievable job he did. … He ran through the mud, and he was just unbelievable. I am very proud of him."
Patuxent senior Matt Hallenbeck finished fourth overall with a time of 17:19 to help his squad to the third-place team finish. Teammate Tommy Scott (18:30) was Patuxent's next top finisher with a 17th-place finish.
"It was pretty good today," Hallenbeck said. "I wasn't really sure how well I would do today. I went out there strong and surprised that I was able to hold it for such a long time."
Huntingtown (153 points) finished seventh overall as a team and was led by William Allen's 16th-place finish clocking in at 18:23 on the day. Huntingtown's Logan Race finished 25th overall in 18:42.
Calvert (258) earned a ninth-place finish and was led by Nathan Blankenship as he crossed the line with a time of 18:49.
Ogden leads Patriots girls to third
Northern senior Megan Ogden aided heavily in her team earning a third-place finish as the senior placed ninth overall individually with a time of 21:44.
"I am usually a trails kind of girl, and flats aren't really my thing," Ogden admitted about the course. "That was kind of a disadvantage. I am happy that I placed in the top 10. I was aiming for top seven, but I just kind of lost it there in the end."
Leonardtown earned top honors as a team with 19 team points. North Point placed second with 75 points.
Leonardtown senior Jessica Gass was tops among the girls with her time of 20:12 and La Plata's Emma Bahneman placed second overall in 20:29.
"I wanted our team to do very well," Gass said. "I wanted us to win for the sixth time in a row, and that what our main goal was as a team."
Huntingtown (133) earned a fifth-place team finish and was led by Hannah Weis' time of 21:58, placing 10th overall.
Calvert (160), led by sophomore Courtney Yates (24:56), placed sixth overall as a team.
Patuxent was led by Sydney Morgan (24:24) and placed eighth overall with 205 team points.
