Oakland Mills’ Judson Lincoln IV is 2021-22 Howard County Times boys indoor track and field Athlete of the Year

Oakland Mills senior Judson Lincoln IV is no stranger to success on the track, one of Howard County’s best runners over several seasons.

The veteran, committed to run at Virginia Tech, capped off his high school indoor career in style. He earned four gold medals at the MPSSAA Class 2A state championships, also securing four first-place finishes in the same events at the 2A West Regional.

Lincoln’s performance played an integral role in the Scorpions clinching both the 2A state and 2A regional championships by wide margins. For his strong postseason performances, Lincoln is the 2021-22 Howard County Times/Columbia boys indoor track and field Athlete of the Year.

“It’s something as a track coach, it’s like gold,” Oakland Mills coach Chris Brewington said of Lincoln’s versatility. “He’s a unicorn, you don’t get kids like that who can win every event that they’re in let alone place in the top five at states. We’re lucky to have not just [Lincoln], but a couple of those guys who could be basically a swiss army knife, and that’s what he is.”

In Howard County, the 2021-22 indoor track season was unconventional with the mid-December winter sports pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. Without a county championship, Lincoln saved some of his best career performances for the biggest stage.

He set a personal record in the 500 meters at regionals finishing in 1 minute, 6.87 seconds, also edging out teammates Kanye Holland and Shane King in the 300 in 35.22. At states, on a more challenging running surface, Lincoln maintained his success in both individual events winning a pair of gold medals. The friendly competition in practice helped drive Lincoln’s competitive spirit further.

“It’s incredible,” Brewington said. “I tell the kids all the time you’re not going to get better competition than what we have in practice. He’s so ultracompetitive, he doesn’t like to lose a rep in practice, that’s this kid. If he loses a 55 to Trevin [McHargh] or Shane in practice, he gets upset. He’s mad at himself for losing, so he comes back and he gets it on the next one. The kid doesn’t want to lose in anything ever.”

Lincoln also shined in the relays earning first-place state finishes in the 4x200 and 4x400 relay. In the 4x200, Lincoln, Holland, King and McHargh dominated, finishing in 1:35:54. In the 4x400 he enjoyed similar success with Kharles Ngansi, Zachary Feldman and John Tatum finishing in 3:40:75, five seconds faster than the second-place team.

“I try to pride myself on winning the race that day especially during nationals or moving towards bigger races at states,” Lincoln said. “Even if somebody is faster than me going into that race, I feel like I’m better on that certain day. I know I’m going to bring my A-game and I know how I need to run that race to drop a good time.”

With his success during indoor track, Lincoln is now in the middle stages of the outdoor season. After that concludes, Lincoln moves on to Virginia Tech continuing his running career at the collegiate level.

“I want to prove other people wrong,” Lincoln said. “I feel like some people don’t think I can do the 100, 200 and 400 during outdoor. The 300 and the 500 is pretty hard as well for indoor. Trying to prove other people wrong and myself wrong. Trying to blow some expectations away I think is the most exciting thing for me.”

All-County first team

Jadon Ra-Akbar, senior, Hammond: Ra-Akbar was one of the top sprinters in Howard County in the 55 hurdles. The senior captured a Class 2A West regional championship with a blistering time of 7.8 seconds. Ra-Akbar earned a gold medal at the 2A state championships finishing in 7.83 seconds.

Timothy Cherry, senior, Glenelg: At the 2A West regional, Cherry captured first place in both the 800 and 1,600. Cherry dominated the 800 finishing roughly 12 seconds faster than the next closest finisher. The veteran built on that success with a pair of gold medals at the 2A state championships in the same two events.

Ethan Aidam, junior, Oakland Mills: Aidam finished fourth in the 800, sixth in the 1,600 and first in the 3,200 at the 2A West regionals. Aidam earned a state gold medal in the 3,200 and a silver medal in the 1,600. He improved on his 3,200 time from regionals to states by roughly seven seconds.

Joseph Raudabaugh, senior, Howard: In the 3A East regional, Raudabaugh earned first place in the 1,600 and second in the 800. At states, Raudabaugh earned a silver medal in the 1,600. Raudabaugh’s state time of 4:30:16 in the 1,600 marked a near 10-second improvement from his performance at regionals.

Kayne Holland, senior, Oakland Mills: Holland finished third in the 300 and fourth in the 55 hurdles, also adding a first-place finish as a part of the 4x200 relay at the 2A West regionals. At states, Holland earned a silver medal in the 300, a bronze in the 55 hurdles and a gold medal as a part of the same relay team.­

Jalen Booth-Mitchell, senior, Reservoir: Booth-Mitchell captured a 3A East regional victory in the 55 with a time of 6.69 seconds. Booth-Mitchell also finished fourth in the 300. He only improved from there, earning a silver medal in the 55 at states with a time of 6.63 seconds, also earning fourth in the 300 at states.

Quinlan Ballou, freshman, River Hill: Ballou finished third in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200 finishing in 4:44:67. At state, Ballou earned a bronze in the 3,200 and finished fifth in the 1,600.

Trevin McHargh, junior, Oakland Mills: McHargh finished first in the 55 at regionals in 6.6 seconds and ran on the winning 4x200 relay. McHargh earned a bronze medal at states in the 55. He also captured a medal on the 4x200 team.

Christian Brower, junior, Long Reach: Brower finished fourth in the 800 and second in the 1,600 at the 3A East regionals. At states he earned a bronze medal in the 1,600.

Aki Harvey, senior, Oakland Mills: At regionals, Harvey narrowly edged out teammate Kylik Perry clearing 5 feet, 11 inches in the high jump. At states, he capped off his indoor track career securing a gold medal and 10 more critical points for the Scorpions toward their 2A state championship.

Second Team All-County

Shane King, junior, Oakland Mills, sprint/mid-distance

CJ Marthins, senior, Howard, shot put

Kidus Zeleke, sophomore, Reservoir, distance

Ethan Mulcahy, junior, Atholton, distance

Kylik Perry, senior, Oakland Mills, high jump

Christian Randolph, junior, Howard, mid-distance

Darian Tarver, junior, Atholton, mid-distance

Aaron Abedin, junior, Mt. Hebron, mid-distance

Bryce Handa, senior, River Hill, distance

Michael Sturtevant, senior, Glenelg, distance