Old Mill enjoys field day at Golliday | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Though team scores aren't tallied, which is a tradition that extends back to the inaugural meet in 1980, the Patriots captured a number of first-place finishes in the seven-team field to highlight the day's activities.

"They like to run on their own home track," said Old Mill coach Janet Liimatta. "They're familiar with how the track feels, and that kind of gives them an advantage. They've been working hard all season, and I think it shows in their performances today. Even though it was a chilly day they ran good times."

Joining the Patriots were Northeast, North County, Broadneck, Severna Park, South River and Magruder.

The Old Mill girls had some stout performances, including a win in the 800-meter relay, and individual firsts by Natasha Rucker (100 dash) and Cassey Trevino (800).

The Patriots' boys won the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays, and they set a personal best in the 3,200 relay with their second-place time of 8 minutes, 22.9 seconds.

In the 400 relay, the Patriots won in 43.2 seconds, the fourth fastest time in the meet's history.

The Patriots were overtaken in the 3,200 relay in the final lap of the last leg by Northeast's Justin Wolf, who made his move in the second turn of the last lap.

"I just had to go," Wolf said. "I don't really like losing, so I had to do it for the rest of the team and give it all I had."

Old Mill was exceptionally strong in the field events, sweeping the top three places in both boys and girls discus and taking first in boys and girls shot put.

"We really make sure that they're their own best coaches," Liimatta said. "They can each help each other get better, and they're very educated about the events."

Shawn Zimmerman, Ryan Gill and Taofik Amokowama finished first to third, respectively, in the boys' discus; Alex Georgiou, Brittany Holmes and Dominique Davis finished first to third in the girls event.

Gill and Georgiou took firsts in the shot put.

"They really throw well in practice, so when you throw there all the time, it's just another day," Liimatta said. "They can relax, so I think that's to their advantage."

Old Mill's Ricardo Orengo won the boys long jump and triple jump and finished second in the high jump, and Maya Lilley did the same on the girls side.

Other stellar performances were turned in by Severna Park's distance tandem of T.J. Cowing and Andrew Finlayson.

Cowing won the mile in 4:33, and Finlayson won the 800 in a personal-best 1:58.9 - the fourth fastest time in meet history.

"My coach decided to put me in one event so I could break 2:00, because I've been complaining about hitting two-flats all season," Finlayson said. "I felt motivated to do it and get it today."

Another top-notch effort was turned in by South River's reigning county pole vault champion, Jen Whitfield, who won that event with a leap of 9-6. Teammate Haley Paskalides finished in second, clearing nine feet.

The Golliday Invitational is held annually in memory of Bob Golliday, a standout runner for Old Mill in the 1970s. He was a member of Old Mill's 1978 state championship team and was the county champion in the mile and two-mile in 1977 and 1978. He died of lung cancer at age 19, and the meet is held in his honor to recognize strong individual performances.

"It was a cold day, so it's hard to break any records, but we had a lot of outstanding performances for this point in the season," Liimatta said. "It really mirrored what the idea of the meet is."

Boys Individual Results

3200 Relay - 1. Northeast (8:20.6); 2. Old Mill (8:22.9); 3. Severna Park (8:48.1). High Hurdles - 1. Edwards (OM), 14.7; 2. Hirakawa (SR), 15.7; 3. D'Aversa (SP), 15.8). 100 - Lewis (SP), 11.0; 2. Watts (OM), 11.1; 3. Winter (MA), 11.1. Mile - 1. Cowing (SP) 4:33.0; 2. Vernon (OM), 4:44.2; 3. Rosenthal (NE), 4:48.3. 800 Relay - 1. Old Mill (1:31.5); 2. Magruder (1:35.3); 3. North County (1:36.1). 400 - 1. Mathis (OM), 51.8; 2. Brown (NC), 53.5; 3. Weisgerber (NE), 54.1. Two-Mile - 1. Reddinger (SP), 9:47.0; 2. Crowe (OM), 9:47.1; 3. Escobar (MA), 10:02.0. 300 Hurdles - 1. Wiggins (OM), 42.0; 2. Castille (SP), 42.8; 3. Robinson (OM) 45.1. 200 - 1. Major (SP), 22.4; 2. Cox (OM), 23.0; 3. Winter (MA) 23.7. 800 - 1. Finlayson (SP), 1:58.9; 2. Norwalt (OM), 2:02.0; 3. Galis (MA), 2:02.3. 400 Relay - 1. Old Mill (43.2); 2. Severna Park (45.8); 3. North County (58.20). 1600 Relay - 1. Old Mill (3:33.6); 2. Northeast (3:43.9); 3. Broadneck (3:47.5). Long Jump - 1. Orengo (OM), 20-10; 2. Joyce (SP), 19-6 ½; 3. Henderson (MA), 19-6 ½. Triple Jump - 1. Orengo (OM), 42-0; 2. Castille (SP), 37-10; 3. Morris (OM) 37-9 ½. High Jump - 1. Hirakawa (SR), 5-10; 2. Orengo (OM), 5-8; 3. Dushel (SP), 5-8. Pole Vault - 1. Love (OM), 9-6; 2. Stephens (SP), 9-0; 3. Metzler (OM), 9-0. Discus - 1. Zimmerman (OM), 127-4; 2. Gill (OM), 109-8; 3. Amokowema (OM), 103-2. Shot put - 1. Gill (OM), 43-8; 2. Thomas (SR), 38-8; 3. Bolyard (BN) 37-7.

Girls Individual Results

3200 Relay - 1. Broadneck (10:04.72); 2. Severna Park (10:18.00); 3. Northeast (10:37.20). High Hurdles - 1. Diestel (MA), 17.0; 2. Irminger (SP), 18.1; 3. Davis (OM), 18.9. 100 - 1. Rucker (OM), 12.6; 2. Scott (MA), 12.7; 3. Trinh (MA) 12.9. Mile - 1. Whalen (MA), 5:30.9; 2. Heater (SR), 5:35.1; 3. Balleza (SP), 5:38.3. 800 Relay - 1. Old Mill (1:50.4); 2. Northeast (1:56.5); 3. South River (1:59.0). 400 - 1. Thornton (SP), 58.8; 2. Trevino (OM), 1:00.5; 3. Hopper (BN), 1:01.7). Two-Mile - 1. Kenealy (SP), 12:16.8; 2. Holland (NC), 12:17.3; 3. Hill (SP), 12:18.1. 300 Hurdles - 1. Diestel (MA), 49.9; 2. Gilmore (SP), 51.5; 3. Freeman (OM), 53.1. 200 - 1. Scott (MA), 26.7; 2. Rucker (OM), 27.4; McDermott (NC), 28.9. 800 - 1. Trevino (OM), 2:27.8; 2. Thornton (SP) 2:31.4; 3. Quasney (NE), 2:33.9. 400 Relay - 1. Magruder (52.00); 2. Old Mill (52.06); 3. North County (58.20). 1600 Relay - 1. Broadneck (4:17.8); 2. Severna Park (4:23.7); 3. Old Mill (4:26.7). Long Jump - 1. Lilley (OM), 15-1 ½; 2. Crone (MA), 14-3 ½; 3. Coffey (MA), 14-1 ½. Triple Jump - 1. Lilley (OM), 32-6; 2. Crone (MA), 31-7; 3. French (OM), 29-6. High Jump - 1. Pollander (BN), 4-6; 2. Lilley (OM), 4-6; 3. Marbut (SR), 4-4. Pole Vault - 1. Whitfield (SR), 9-3; 2. Paskalides (SR), 9-0; 3. Clement (SP), 8-6. Discus - 1. Georgiou (OM), 112-0; 2. Holmes (OM), 88-2; 3. Davis (OM), 71-2. Shot put - 1. Georgiou (OM), 33-8; 2. Rich (NC), 28-8; 3. Davis (OM), 26-8 ½.

In other Wednesday track and field:

MIAA B CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Junior Zach Sullivan won a pair of individual events and was part of a winning relay team to help the Archbishop Spalding boys track team take first place at the MIAA B Conference championships.

Sullivan was first in the mile run in 4:32 as well as the 800 run in 2:03. He also teamed with John Tobin, Dean Mertz and J.R. Spencer to win the two-mile relay in 9:10.

Tobin and Mertz teamed with Justin Hintz and John Graziano to win the 1600 relay in 3:46.9, Trevor Keen won the two-mile run in 10:12 and Franco Green took first in the 110 high hurdles in 16.8 seconds.

David Isaksen was first in the discus with a throw of 109-6 inches for Spalding, which will compete in the Annapolis relays today. The Cavaliers finished with 139 points as a team, and were followed by Cardinal Gibbons (134) and St. Mary's (76).