Pikesville Boys Fifth in State Track After First Day

The Pikesville boys are a young track and field team that is growing and improving. They did some more of both on the first day of the state track meet Thursday.

The Panthers did well in a few events to finish with 17 points and sit fifth in Class 1A after the opening day at Morgan State. All four classes will come back on Saturday to finish the meet.

In Class 1A boys, the Panthers sat in fifth place after the first six events —there are 12 more remaining. Perryville is the leader with 43 points.

Pikesville did most of its damage in the relays, finishing second in the 3,200-meters and fifth in the 800. A strong group of underclassmen has done well in recent weeks, and the Pikesville coaches say they are hoping they can grow here.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys, and it’s one of their first times on a big stage,” said Gerard Filosa, assistant coach under Adam Hittner. “It’s a learning experience. So when they’re a little bit older, a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, they’ll be able to [do even better].”

The 3,200 relay gave Pikesville its best effort of the warm afternoon. Maury Sall, Chris Tolliver, Harrison Tolliver and Haile Kostin combined to finish second and give the Panthers eight points.

Kovelman and Tolliver are juniors while Sall is a sophomore, and Kostin was the lone senior.

The 800 relay team of Quadir Rose, John Jones, C.J. Smalley and Terrell Flanigan gave Pikesville a fifth-place finish and four points. Flanigan is a freshman, and the other three are sophomores.

In individual races, Menelik Solomon took fourth in the 3,200 and handed the Panthers five points. Solomon is a junior.

It’s doubtful that Pikesville will be fighting for the top spots on Saturday, but the young Panthers should make some noise and now will know more about what it’s like to run at a state meet, something they can learn from in the future.