WESTMINSTER – After dominating the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association cross country championships Nov. 5, Owen Johnson and his Calvert Hall teammates had an unconventional warm-down.
The Cardinals returned to the McDaniel College course to encourage their classmates who were participating in the open race. It’s for those who don’t make the cut for the varsity race, where schools are limited to seven runners.
In a meeting that drew dozens of MIAA schools, Calvert Hall had the first 13 finishers in the Open race. If those Cardinals had been in the varsity race, they would have finished fourth in the A Conference standings, behind only Calvert Hall’s first seven, Gilman and 2018 champion Loyola Blakefield.
“We’ve got a good team culture,” Johnson said, in a bit of an understatement.
Repeating as champion and covering the 5,000 meters in 16 minutes, 20.9 seconds, Johnson continued to set the pace for a program that sent out 70 runners. That contingent included Calvert Hall’s junior varsity nipping Mount St. Joseph for a Cardinal sweep of the team titles.
“We talk about the last guy being just as important as the first,” said Peter Frein, a Calvert Hall guidance counselor who heads its running program. “Everyone contributes, every race. We don’t cut anyone. If you show up and do the work, you’re going to get the opportunity to race.
“A lot of the guys are new to the sport when they join us. My favorite part of the job is teaching them the sport. I really emphasize the need to support your teammates. Win or lose, at the end of the day, I want them to care about each other.”
The Cardinals aren’t just deep, they’re good, as the varsity reached relatively untrodden ground by breaking 30 points. In scoring that involved the eight A Conference teams, it totaled 27 points, easily beating Gilman (66) and Loyola Blakefield (98). It was Calvert Hall’s first varsity title since 2008.
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Following Johnson, junior Nick Gonzalez had the race of his life, taking fifth in 17:02.5. Connor Paskiewicz, junior Andrew Myers and junior Spencer Boyle finished 8-10-14 in a varsity race that included all three conferences. Daniel Ryan (18th) and sophomore Heeter Hobbs (24th) displaced plenty of the competition’s top five.
Johnson’s only challenger in the early going was Ryan Miller of Archbishop Spalding, who took second in 16:40.3.
A Calvert Hall legacy – his father, Dean, ’89, played soccer for the late Bill Karpovich – Johnson settled in as the Cardinals’ No. 1 as a sophomore when he finished fifth at the MIAAs.
Some of his summer runs along the NCR Trail are done alongside Camden Gilmore, the former Loyola Blakefield star who’s now a freshman at Georgetown University. Johnson will join him there next year and study business.
“He put me on the (Georgetown) coach’s radar,” Johnson said.
His credentials didn’t hurt, as last spring Johnson’s chasing of Gilmore produced personal bests of 9:20 in the 3,200, 4:17 in the 1,600 and 1:57 in the 800.
While most eyes will be on the centennial Turkey Bowl Thanksgiving Day, Johnson will be gearing up for a return to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Nov. 30 and another shot at qualifying for the prep nationals in San Diego. Until he pulled a hamstring, he was in position to advance last year.
John Carroll edged St. Mary’s for the B Conference title.
Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
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