Juliette Whittaker of Mount de Sales was named Gatorade Maryland Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year on Monday.
The 5-foot-7 sophomore won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland title this past season with a time of 19 minutes, 8.58 seconds, breaking the tape 1:29.78 seconds ahead of her next closest competitor and leading the Sailors to a third-place finish. Whittaker, a Laurel native, also won the Maryland/DC Private School Championships in 18:59. After finishing seventh at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships, she earned All-America status by taking 13th at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
The president of the Mount de Sales sophomore class, Whittaker has volunteered locally at a soup kitchen and as a peer tutor and has maintained a weighted 4.29 GPA.
The Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award will be announced in February.
Women’s college lacrosse: Reigning national champion Maryland was voted by the conference coaches as the preseason favorite to claim its sixth consecutive Big Ten championship in 2020. The Terps were followed in the preseason poll by Northwestern in second, Michigan in third, Penn State at fourth and Johns Hopkins at No. 5, while Ohio State was picked sixth and Rutgers rounded out the poll at No. 7. Johns Hopkins’ Shelby Harrison, Jeanne Kachris and Maggie Schneidereith and Maryland’s Brindi Griffin, Grace Griffin and Kali Hartshorn were among the players to watch.
Men’s college lacrosse: Penn State was unanimously selected as the preseason favorite to claim the Big Ten championship in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Nittany Lions were followed in the poll by Maryland in second, Johns Hopkins in third, Ohio State in fourth, Rutgers in fifth and Michigan in sixth. Johns Hopkins’ Joey Epstein, Kyle Prouty and Cole Williams and Maryland’s Anthony DeMaio, Roman Puglise and Matt Rahill were among the players to watch.
>> Defending champion UMBC earned a league-high three first-place votes and 30 points, one behind preseason favorite Vermont, in the America East Conference coaches poll. The Catamounts received a pair of first-place votes, with 31 points. UAlbany earned 28 points and one first-place vote, while 2019 regular-season champion Stony Brook amassed 24 points and the other first-place vote. UMass Lowell (15) was tabbed fifth, while Binghamton and Hartford each earned nine points to round out the poll.
>> Stevenson was selected as the favorite in the 2020 Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth preseason coaches poll. The Mustangs received 64 points and first-place votes. Widener collected 54 points to be ranked second, and Messiah earned 51 points to rank third.
