by Chris Hiden

This was an exceptional season for the Indoor Track & Field team; winning the Regional Championships, and then carrying that momentum onto the State meet, leading up to the Bears winning their first ever State Championship.

What was remarkable about this victory was that it required an entire team effort in order to win. The Bears were able to capture this championship with eight athletes! This is amazing, considering how strong the 2A Class is for Maryland.

The Bears pulled off the win over the Century Knights with a score of 49 to 45. This is an extremely narrow difference, and accurately shows how close the state meet was. A few points here and there throughout the meet would make the difference between victory and defeat.

The Bears were led by Senior Adam Middlebrook who won the high jump, and placed second in the pole vault. He scored a total of 18 points. Sophomore Evan Kowalk placed third in the 1600 meters and sixth in the 800 meters. In addition, Senior Brett Tarzy placed 4th in the 3200 meters, which was crucial in keeping the Bears in the fight for the win.

Then the relays made their mark on the meet. The 4×200 meter relay team of Sophomore Kenny Yerardi, Senior Joshua Hindle, Senior Matthew Yerardi, and Sophomore Percy Agyei-Obese placed fifth and brought the Bears within striking distance.

The 4×400 meter relay of  Kenny Yerardi, Hindle, Matthew Yerardi, and Kowalk placed second, and secured the win for the Bears. Century, on the other hand, placed sixth, and were forced to watch the Bears walk away with the victory.

Century and Oakdale were neck-and-neck the entire meet, and it was the last events of the meet that would determine the victor, but despite Century’s attempt at securing the win through the final relays, Oakdale came out on top.