Perryville Track and Field Makes Impact At Indoor Championships

     Powered by Jordan Dodson’s wins in the Girls 800 and 1500 Meter Races, the Perryville Girls Indoor Track and Field team just missed ending up on the winner’s podium and finished fourth in the 1A Division.

     Athletes from Perryville, Bohemia Manor, Rising Sun and North East competed in the 1A/2A Maryland State Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Prince George's County Sports Complex in Landover, Maryland today, but it was Perryville’s girls who kept turning in solid performances.

     The meet opened with the Girls 4 x 800 Meter Relay.  Meet Champion Boonsboro proved too much for Perryville, but Kaylee Haberkam, Sam Leonard, Tori Antoshak and Merve Akbay got the Perryville Panther squad on the board with a third place.

     Kaylee Haberkam, as a solo act, was next. She cleared 4’10” easily, two inches more than she qualified with, but she had to wait to see where she would place. Boonsboro’s Maggie Sullivan was off competing in another event. When she returned, she was unable to clear 5’0” as well, giving Haberkam the second placing based on missed jumps.

     Jordan Dodson qualified for the 1500m contest almost 43 seconds slower than Boonsboro’s Sarah Zielinski, who also motored through the 3200m contest for a win. But, it was Dodson who battled past Zielinski for the win. Dodson set her sights on Zielinski early in the race. “I knew I could outkick her, if I just kept her close,” she said.  Dodson added the 800 meter win later in the meet.

     The Perryville Boys finished eighth for the meet, with Karl Palmer providing the best result for the Panthers – a second place finish in the 55m Dash.

    Tori Bertrand from North East scored a second place finish in the pole vault in the 2A Division and Rising Sun's Austin Mcginley finished second in the 2A 3200 meter run for the boys.

     Katie Hild rounded out the Top-3 finishes for Perryville and all Cecil County athletes with her third place finish in the Pole Vault.

*****COMMENTARY*****

     What you might not know is that Indoor Track and Field is a club sport. It isn’t sanctioned.  The athletes pay for their own uniforms, they pay travel expenses and they don’t even qualify as a “letter sport” to put a P or B on a jacket or a sweater. But, they all love track and field.  Part of it is a lack of interest countywide in the Winter version of the Spring sport that is very popular. That said, a short-staffed Perryville squad showed up in Landover and faced serious track and field powerhouses and made a great showing for Cecil County.  Maybe their performance will inspire other Cecil athletes to take part in Indoor Track and Field.  The Perryville Panthers should be quite proud of their fourth place finish.

02-20-12 Maryland State Track and Field - Images by Eclipse Sportswire