The unyielding success of Catoctin track

Richelle Zheng
CHS Class of 2025

(5/2024) Catoctin’s spring sports teams are living up to their full potential, with numerous back to back games. Notably, Catoctin’s outdoor track and field, and softball teams have made amazing accomplishments so far this season.

Catoctin’s men’s varsity outdoor track and field teams had their first meet of the season on March 28, at Hoover-Josenhans Invitational, held at Clear Spring High School. In the men's varsity 200-meter dash senior Ronald Etzler finished first, with a time of 24.22 seconds, which also marks his new personal record for the season so far! Not far behind follows sophomore Ayoola Animashaun, in fifth with a time of 25.26 seconds. Gavin Sheetz ran an impressive time of 55.76 seconds in the men’s varsity 400-meters event, putting him in first place! Gabriel Riling competed in the same event and ran a time of 56.37 seconds, placing him third. Freshman Seamus Riddle competed in the men’s varsity 800-meters event, and secured a time of 2:22.48 minutes. His personal record placed him in fourth place, in the event. Catoctin’s 4x200 relay team, consisting of Animashaun, David Stiley, Etzler, and Riddle placed first with a time of 1:42.38 minutes! Additionally, the men’s varsity 4x400 relay consisting of Santiago CaZadas Fraga, Brian Vasquez, Michael Metz, and Riling finished first with an outstanding time of 4:04.25.

The girl’s outdoor track and field team competed in the Dwight Scott Battlefield Blast Invitational on March 30 at Boonsboro High School. Senior Ava Thompson ran in the 200-meter dash and finished with a new seasonal time of 30.46 seconds! Freshman Hadley McQuay competed in the 400-meter event and secured a personal best time of 1:09.55 minutes. Kylie Foster also ran the 400, finishing with a seasonal time of 1:16.88 minutes. In the 1600-meter event, Aniston Casne’s time of 5:42.26 placed her fifth in the competition. Additionally, Keira Taylor placed fifth with a personal record of 12:25.54 minutes in the 3200 meter race.

Both track and field teams participated in the Red, White and Blue Classic meet at Francis Scott Key High School, held on April 6. In the 200-meters dash, Furious Trammel started off his outdoor track season with an exceptional time of 22.36 seconds, expertly placing him first! Dennis Lease ran a fourth place time of 53.13 seconds in the 400-meters event. Additionally, Lease ran in the 800-meters event with a time of 2:12.55, placing him in fifth place. Riling marked a time of 10:20.7 minutes in the 3200-meters event, placing him in first! Sheetz ran in the 110-meters hurdles and 300-meters hurdles, locking in fourth place for both events. Lease, Etzler, Sheetz, and Trammel made a great relay team, as they manifested first in the 4x400 relay race, with an outstanding time of 3:36.78 minutes! Finally, in the 4x800 relay race, Etzler, Lease, Fraga, and Riling worked together to win first place, with a time of 8:35.77 minutes.

From the girls team, Taylor placed fifth in the 800-meters dash with a time of 2:33.61 minutes. Junior Aliyah McLain competed in the 1600-meters event and achieved a new personal record time of 7:00.79 minutes. Casne placed third in the 3200-meters event, finishing with a personal record of 12:31.04 minutes. Olivia Baker, Casne, Katelyn Bell, and Taylor competed in the 4x800 relay race, placing second with a time of 10:46.88 minutes.

On the field, at the Sam Singleton Scorpion Classic held on April 19-20. Deacon Mcllvaine placed second in the varsity shot put event. Mcllvaine’s 50-00.25 throw marked a new personal best! Similarly, Bryce Bowers threw a 33-06.25 shot marking his new personal best. On the junior varsity team, Bagnet threw a 29-02.75; along with Dylan Jesse with a 75-03 shot in the discus JV finals, which placed him in seventh place. It’s fair to say that Catoctin’s outdoor track team continues to impress competition, and bring pride to the Catoctin community!

Catoctin’s softball team has had a great start to their season as well. Their first game took place on March 22 at Catoctin High School, against Liberty High School. The team, playing offense, had two outs with all bases loaded. Thanks to sophomore Tatiana Owens, a base was made on balls, later scoring a run. Madison Ott made a single hit, scoring two runs, resulting in Cougar victory! In addition, Aubrie Courtney aided the team’s win by making two home runs and a walk. Bralyn West contributed two hits, along with Meghan Gray, who made a hit that led to two home runs and three planned walks. On defense, Courtney threw an incredible fastball that was unable to be hit, giving the girls an edge, ultimately resulting in the girls win of 8-7! Ott was given the spotlight as athlete of the week due to her walk-off single and Courtney was also given a shout out for her two home runs that led to the Cougar’s win.

On March 25, Cougars softball competed against Middletown High School at home. During the team’s offensive plays, Kassidy Kreitz led the team with four hits, two home runs, a double hit, and encouraged three runs! Raegan Miller pitched in, by making three hits, a triple hit, a double hit, and driving three runs. Moreover, West made two double hits; and Courtney, Madison Ohler, and Ott all added two hits each. Additionally, Gray and Sammie Simmers each contributed a run batted-in hit, respectively. On the defense, Courtney striked out four of three innings, only permitting one earned run for the Middletown Knights! Kreitz striked out two innings and pitched two shut-out innings. Nearing the end of the game, the Cougars made a double play with the Knights on second and third base. With one out in center field, Ohler caught a fly ball and threw to home, outing the player at third base. Then, Gray threw a ball to Courtney, who then tagged a retreating opponent. The Cougars were able to sit comfortably with a 16-2 triumph because of their strategic plays.

The girls had their next game on April 4, against Smithsburg High School. Taking another win of 16-1, the girls increased their overall record to 3-0 for the season so far. Some offensive highlights from this game include West contributing four hits, four run batted-ins, and a double hit, leading the team. On top of that, Kenzie Lewis also chimed in with three run batted-ins, and Owens with two hits. Gray guided the team to their victory by making a two run home run which was permitted by Simmers who batted double hits.

Moving on to the Cougar’s most recent game against Clear Spring High School, the girls won 17-1. Gray led the team to victory by making three hits, a double hit, a home run, and two run batted-ins. West dealt a good hand with a home run and a double hit, which added five runs. Lewis also allotted two runs with two hits. The Catoctin varsity softball team is on track to states, considering their record of 10-2! The Catoctin community is excited to see what developments will occur in spring athletics!