On February 19 the boys indoor track team dominated the 3A State Championship meet, bringing home the first title of this school year. In 2018, the boys squeezed out a one point victory for the state title. This year they didn’t have to worry about that, as the team racked up 72.5 points, beating second place Chopticon High School in southern Maryland by 31.5 points.

Linganore went into the meet with everyone expecting a title for the second year in a row, and they did not disappoint.

Within the span of an hour, the team won four different events. First, Joey Felton won the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.45, breaking his old school record of 6.53. Next, Michael Belmaggio dominated the 3200 meter run with a time of 9:39.08. Winning the 3200 is nothing new to Belmaggio, as he was defending his 2018 state title.  Belmaggio won by 11 seconds, which, for him, is a close race. Colby Bannon and Carter Holsinger also won their events (high jump and pole vault) within the hour. These four wins secured the championship for the team.

“I came into the meet very confident, but you can never be too cocky because you never know what could happen,” said Holsinger. Holsinger won pole vault for the second year in a row, with a height of 14’ 7”.

“After realizing I had won 3A, I was going for the overall state title and I claimed it by 6 inches.” Holsinger also attempted the state record, which is 15’ 2”, but couldn’t reach it.

Although Belmaggio won the 3200, he didn’t do it without complications. Usually the officials keep track of the leaders laps, but since Belmaggio lapped so many runners, the officials lost track. Once he finished the race, they told him he still had one more lap. He knew it wasn’t true, but he ran it anyway. After reviewing footage of the race, Belmaggio was officially announced state champion of the 3200 meter run.

Holsinger and Belmaggio both qualified for nationals in their events.

Many other athletes scored points in the meet, Allejah Seraton finished second in the 500 meter run. Will Cioffi came in second in the 1600 and 3rd in the 800. Carson Buck also contributed some points in the 3200.

“It was great to win again, I was so happy for all the kids and glad everything came together so perfectly in the end,” said Coach William Eckard.

“I’m trying to recruit some jumpers for outdoor track so we can take home a state title there too.”

The track team looks to carry their dominance into the outdoor season. Students interested in joining the team for the spring season should talk to Coach Eckard.