LANDOVER — For Oakland Mills boys indoor track and field, eight laps stood between the elation of victory and the agony of defeat. After 12 highly competitive events, the Scorpions led Digital Harbor by 4.25 points entering the third and final heat of the 4×400 relay at Friday’s Class 2A/3A state championships.
With the Rams possessing the top qualifying time and as the event’s presumptive favorite, the Scorpions needed a top-two finish to hold off Digital Harbor. It took every ounce of energy from their go-to four seniors: Isaac Ramsey, Gabriel Murray, Keshon Tate and Solomon Small, some of whom were competing in their fifth event of the day.
“Time and time again when I need them, every time they come through,” Oakland Mills coach Chris Brewington said. “I was going to live or die with those guys.”
Ramsey started things off, followed by strong pushes from Murray and Tate. Then, the fate of the entire race — and thereby the state title — rested in Small’s hands. The anchor leg, Small was frustrated with his earlier performance by not placing in the 800. However, he didn’t let that blunder define him and aptly responded in the most critical moment. Small fended off furious comeback attempts from Severna Park’s anchor, building distance in the final 100 meters and crossing the finish line second.
“I had an unfortunate 800 and the team relies on me a lot doing a lot of events,” Small said. “I was thinking, ‘It’s my last winter season, I’m a senior, I just need to win.’ I knew the circumstances, everything on the line, ball is on the floor, I have to win. I have to push myself to do this for our team. It wasn’t just for me; it was for everybody.
“We have a lot of seniors on this squad, this was our last chance to go do it with us. People can’t say, ‘We got carried by one of the previous seasons.’ It was our win, and us seniors motivated each other.”
The Scorpions’ relay team put forth its best time of the season — 3 minutes, 25.7 seconds — and survived a historic performance from the Rams (3:23.24) that broke a state record. Oakland Mills returned to the mountaintop as 3A state champions with 64.25 points, beating out Digital Harbor (62). It is their 11th indoor state title, which is an MPSSAA boys record. Pure euphoria ensued as Small shared a warm embrace with his relay teammates and Brewington sprinted from across the track to share in the celebration.
Oakland Mills is consistently one of the state’s top performing programs with a rich tradition and history. However, last year was a step down from those expectations as the Scorpions placed fourth at indoor states. This year’s senior group learned a lot from that experience and it galvanized them entering the 2024-25 campaign.
That slip-up prompted the same age-old question from those outside the program: How will they respond after losing so much?
Friday’s performance and the Scorpions’ dominance throughout the season has delivered a resounding answer to that question. The Scorpions don’t rebuild, they retool.
Outside of Murray, many of the Scorpions’ top performers haven’t been in the limelight in the past. Murray missed all of last indoor season with an injury, while Ramsey, Tate, Small and others were in more reserve roles. The senior quartet are certainly more widely recognized now.
Ramsey earned a bronze medal in the 55-meter hurdles and ran on both 4×200 and 4×400 relay teams. Tate also was part of both relay teams and placed fourth in the 300. Murray spearheaded the group with a gold medal in the 55 hurdles and a personal best (7.42). He also finished with a silver medal in the 300 (34.60), notching a second personal record.
“Coming in, I was sick and I’m still sick today,” Murray said. “Getting two personal records and finishing first and second was a great thing. It makes it much more memorable after missing last year because I was in a leading role for this team. Being able to step up after last year not doing anything, it feels great.”
While all four seniors competed in multiple events, several other Scorpions stepped up in a big way. Ayomide Adeniyi was the anchor of the 4×200 gold medal winning relay team, which was the race that put Oakland Mills back in the lead.
Juniors AJ York and Kris Rogers supplemented the team in the high jump. York improved on an impressive sophomore campaign with a bronze medal, while Rogers finished tied for eighth after not qualifying for the event until recently. It was an all-around effort by the group, supplanting themselves back in the conversation as one of the state’s premier programs.
“I’m so excited and happy for them,” Brewington said. “Last year we took our lumps, but these guys learned and grew from that. Gabriel is the only one from the old regime who’s still here. All those guys were role players and now they’re the main guys. That’s what made me the most excited and happy for them.
“I think they were kind of feeling, ‘We can’t do this as the main players.’ Then you a win a county championship, a region championship and things just start to roll. These guys are getting their state championship. They think those state championships they were a part of, that was [those other guys]. This is theirs.”
River Hill’s Marella Virmani breaks two Class 3A records
The River Hill girls 4×800 relay team of Marella Virmani, Lauren Virmani, Alyssa Mattes and Nikita Mohan etched their place in history last year with a gold medal and a Class 3A record of 9:35.39. If you break a record one year, why not set a new one the next?
The Hawks did exactly that, winning a second straight 3A 4×800 title, this time in 9:30.90. It marked the first time they finished sub-9:30 during the indoor season.
The first scored event of the afternoon, it set a great tone for Marella, who raced in the mile just a few events after. Throughout the season, Virmani’s goal was to run a sub-5-minute mile. She’s traveled to several states to compete, from New York to Massachusetts to Michigan. However, that accomplishment, came in the place she least expected: The Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex.
“Realistically, I thought my next chance for a sub-5-minute mile would be the circuit meet that we’re racing next week at Penn,” Virmani said. “I think it’s really special that I was able to do it here on a track that’s not known for being as fast as other tracks.”
Virmani won the 3A gold medal in the mile (4:58.18), setting a 3A classification record in the process. Even more impressive, Virmani outlasted North Hagerstown’s Rian Johnson and Edgewood’s Brielle Whitworth, who also set 3A classification records of their own. The victory was doubly sweet as it marked Virmani’s first individual indoor title since her freshman season.
“After last year reflecting, another individual title was definitely something that I wanted,” she said. “I’m really happy because it was my ninth state title. It was phenomenal and I was really happy. I think when I had two laps left is when I started to make my move up to second. I really waited until about 100 meters left to just take it. I wasn’t expecting it exactly, but I’m very happy that it happened.”
