Centennial's Sebastian Martinez, Oakland Mills' Frankie Moore capture Howard County cross country titles
Oct. 29—Centennial senior Sebastian Martinez knew he needed to step up at Wednesday's Howard County cross country championships. The Eagles boys were down two of their top five runners with 2021 champion Antonio Camacho-Bucks and Owen Graff unable to participate. Martinez filled their shoes admirably.
Martinez won the boys race in 15 minutes, 18.66 seconds, roughly 13 seconds faster than second-place Ethan Aidam of Oakland Mills.
"I felt joy, elation, I felt like the day couldn't have gone better given the circumstances," Martinez said. "I was immediately looking over my shoulder to see where my teammates were at. We had a really good day as a team, despite some absences due to illness and injury."
The veteran was one of five top-20 finishers for the Eagles boys, who captured the Howard County title with 51 points, distancing themselves from second-place Howard (106). Sophomore David Herzberger was Centennial's No. 2 runner, placing seventh, in 16:33.95.
Marriotts Ridge (131), Wilde Lake (134) and Mt. Hebron (140) rounded out the top five for the boys field.
The top three finishers in the boys race were seniors. Aidam finished in 15:31.25, while Long Reach senior Christian Brower was narrowly behind at 15:34.57. Martinez has competed against both throughout his high school career.
"The last mile of the race was so much fun," Martinez said. "I made a move a little bit before the last mile and Ethan really matched it. I feel like we've been there a number of times where the two of us are really battling toward the end of the race. It could've gone differently on another day, but I guess I was feeling better and able to get some space on the last hill. He and I have raced a lot and he's a great competitor, so it was really fun to be against him that last mile."
Martinez and the Eagles now turn their attention to competing in the Class 3A East Regionals at River Hill on Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, Oakland Mills junior Frankie Moore is no stranger to competing at the county championship. She placed seventh in last year's race, and five of the six placers ahead of her have graduated.
Howard senior Kylie Mann, who finished third last year, was the other returner, but couldn't compete Wednesday due to illness. Moore took advantage, becoming county champion.
The Scorpions junior finished in 19:17.97, beating out Centennial sophomore Riley Herdson (19:41.81) and Atholton sophomore Gabrielle Shord (19:45.06).
"I passed Gabrielle on the double hills, everyone was cheering us on," Moore said. "I passed her there and I knew I had to keep that speed. I just kept on going and held the lead until the finish."
Improving her finishing position by six spots, Moore also showed growth from last years' time at the county championships by 19 seconds.
"I feel like from last year until now, I learned to understand my body more," Moore said. "Going to practice actually understanding the workouts and not just doing them to do them, I know why I'm doing them. I think that's part of it, but also working hard over the summertime, because before my sophomore year I didn't really do that as much. This year I did."
While Moore had great individual success, Centennial also captured the girls team title with 43 points. Centennial had three top-10 finishers with Herdson, freshman Emma Graff (fourth, 19:53.55) and sophomore Katie Fritz (10th, 20:50.1). Atholton (68), Reservoir (70), Marriotts Ridge (119) and River Hill (148) also finished in the top five.
