Calvert Hall’s Cameron Davis claims his third MIAA individual cross country title
Calvert Hall repeats in A Conference champion; John Carroll prevails in the B; Chapelgate Christian takes the C
by Nelson Coffin
Compared to its runaway win in the 2022 MIAA A Conference championship cross country meet, when Calvert Hall totaled 21 points, the 2023 Cardinals contingent was slightly off that torrid performance at this year’s championship race.
Nevertheless, Coach Scott Baker’s boys were once again in dominant form on Tuesday at Shawan Downs in Cockeysville to claim their second straight title and third in four years, finishing with a still-impressive 33 points.
Last year’s runner-up and 2023 regular-season champion Loyola Blakefield (56) held off Gilman (65) and Mount St. Joseph (75) for second place, although catching the frontrunners was not happening on a day when Calvert Hall placed four runners among the top-10 finishers.
Calvert Hall senior Cameron Davis captured his third consecutive individual crown in 15 minutes, 34 seconds, six seconds better than his winning time last fall and five seconds ahead of senior teammate Cort Schroder (15:39).
Mount St. Joe senior Charlie Butler finished only a second behind Schroder while Loyola senior Sean Wilson was the only other runner to go under 16 minutes — 15:58. Gilman senior Ryan Collins was fifth in 16:08.
“The goal was to win as a team today,” said Davis, who ran a personal-best 14:56.7 at the Great American XC Race in North Carolina earlier this month. “I know I had to be our (number) one to do that, so I wasn’t going to mess around. I didn’t want to go out too hard. I wanted to make sure I could close it out and get the (number) one today. I’m happy with my performance.”
Davis said that when he turned to survey the rest of the field “to see how my team was doing,” he was happy that Schroder was reasonably close on his heels.
“He had to get second today, that was his goal,” Davis said about Schroder. “I was just making sure we were in the right spot. This is the last race I’ll be wearing this (Calvert Hall) jersey. It means a lot to me. The team title is something I love getting and means more to me than an individual win, so it was a great day for my team.”
Baker said that he has “a lot of guys who just buy into the program and want to be really good. Generally, If you’re not in the starting lineup in a lot of sports and a lot of schools, you just give up, and it’s like ‘it is what it is.’ But these guys all want to be in that starting lineup.I think that’s why the team is so good, because they all want to be that guy.”
With the likelihood of Davis winning again, Baker said that he figured Schroder would be a big asset to the Cardinals’ cause.
“We thought Cort could be in the top three,” he said. “He executed his race plan, and for some people that would be a surprise, but we knew if we could go one-two that we would probably win. That was part of the plan.”
MIAA A Conference Team Results
1. Calvert Hall College - 33
2. Loyola Blakefield - 56
3. Gilman - 65
4. Mount Saint Joseph - 75
5. McDonogh -148
6. St. Pauls - 154
7. Archbishop Spalding - 181
8. Archbishop Curley - 224
Complete MIAA A Conference 2023 Cross Country Individual Results
Sophomore Harry Abernathy of Friends won the B Conference individual race in 16:52 ahead of John Carroll junior Evan DeVoe (17:16), although the Patriots (38) captured the team title by a wide margin over the Quakers (71).
MIAA B Conference Team Results
1. John Carroll - 38
2. Friends - 71
3. Park - 83
4. Severn - 93
5. Annapolis Area Christian - 100
6. Boys’ Latin - 103
7. St. Mary’s - 194
Complete MIAA B Conference 2023 Cross Country Individual Results
St. Vincent Pallotti junior Caleb Tenney blew away the field in the C Conference race by logging a rapid 15:45 while Chapelgate Christian Academy (67) edged Glenelg Country School (72) for team honors.
MIAA C Conference Team Results
1. Chapelgate Christian - 67
2. Glenelg Country - 72
3. St. Vincent Pallotti - 98
4. Key - 127
5. Indian Creek - 129
6. Jemicy - 131
7. Beth Tfiloh - 158
8. Gerstell Academy - 180
9. Saints Peter & Paul - 188
10. St John’s Catholic Prep - 239
Complete MIAA C Conference 2023 Cross Country Individual Results