Winning After MidKnight
MIDDLETOWN-The
Middletown High School Knights Boy’s Cross Country has one of the best
pedigree’s of any high school cross country program in the state of Maryland.
But, it has
been a while since the Knights tapped into that pedigree, as season after
season has seen them fall short of the mark time and time again.
Middletown
will hope to change that this season as they’ll hope to tap into that pedigree
as they make a run at a state championship with a team that is full of optimism
about the future.
It’s been a
while since the Knights have made it to the state championship as a team as
Middletown has been a middling power in the 2A West Region, usually advancing
one or two runners to states but not having enough depth to move themselves up
to be one of the top running teams in the state.
Compared to
the other teams in the region, Middletown would have immediate success if they
got back to the quality of some of the teams in the past. Middletown, under the
direction of former head coach Don Boyer, won state championships eight times,
raising the title in 1970, ’72, ’73, ’76, ’79, ’82, ’83, and 1984 creating one
a program that was revered all over the state of Maryland.
The history
and legacy that surrounded those Middletown teams isn’t hard to find residing
at the schools either. Even though the head Boyer retired last year his wife, a
trusting assistant coach by his side throughout all of the championships, is
still a co-head coach for the Middletown Knights and has done a fantastic job
of helping carry the legacy that remains from those glory years.
If the
Knights are to get back to being in the thick of state championship meets than
they’ll have to look to a trio of youngsters who will help Middletown provide
some stability this year.
The three
returning runners for the Knights who will provide the Knights’ best results
for the majority of the season is senior Kelvin Ngo and juniors Brennan Straits
and Riley McDermott.
The trio made
up the top three for the Knights when it came to last year’s season bests in
the two mile and 5,000 meters distance and were all in the top five when it
came to the three mile distance.
And, all
three showed flashes of brilliance at times throughout the season last year. Straits
and Ngo both set personal records and season highs at the 5,000 meter distance
last year at the 2015 Central Maryland Conference Boy’s Cross Country
Championship as the two both managed to clip and get under a 19 minute time.
The Knights
do have a serious chance of succeeding if they can get Straits, Ngo, and
McDermott while finding some of the middle of the pack runners trending upwards
than Middletown can easily become a sleeper pick to do well in the Central
Maryland Conference.
The sleeper
role will suit the Knights just fine as if they can pull it off they might be
able to get back to where the program once was.
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