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There were eight different individual winners from Frederick County on the third day of the state track and field championships, held Saturday at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
But it was two events that the Thomas Johnson High boys team didn't win that became the most important for the Patriots winning its first-ever Class 4A team title.
With two events left, the discus and the 4x400 meter relay, Thomas Johnson was up to 48 points, just barely holding off the charge from Gaithersburg with 43.
Gaithersburg's best option was in the discus, with Sean Stanely reeling off a throw of 169 feet, 8 inches for second place.
It left the Patriots needing to place at least fourth in either event. Instead, they took third – in both events.
Nick Forbes finished the discus at 167-7, while the team of Jordan Dorsey, Kevin King, Richard Newman and Marquis Woodyard were third in the 4x400 in 3 minutes, 23.78 seconds.
The discus wrapped shortly before the relay started, clinching the title, but the Patriots relay team ran with the mentality of clinching it themselves.
"No, I just run," Woodyard said, after an ultra-productive day.
The junior picked up his first-ever outdoor state championship by winning the 110 hurdles in 14.19. Then less than three hours later, he earned his second title with a victory in the 300 hurdles.
The Patriots only other source of Day 3 points came from Brock Chapman placing third in the triple jump.
With a borrowed pole and an adjusted stride, Thomas Johnson High junior Erick Artusio set the state record in the pole vault on the second day of competition.
The new mark for Class 4A, as well as the rest of the state pole vault competitors, is now at 15 feet and 2 inches.
Artusio got it using a 14-foot, 6-inch long poll that was borrowed from Middletown after he snapped a pole from Brunswick in the Frederick County championship.
The break, which happened while Artusio was about 15 feet in the air, was just over two weeks ago, limiting the amount of time that he had to adjust his approach.
He didn't enter Friday's competition until the bar was at 13-6, and he locked down the win by clearing 14-0 and 14-6.
From there, he took control of the bar's height, and set it to one inch above the old record of 15-1.
Artusio appeared to have enough height to clear 15-6 on his record-setting fling, but going against the bar at 15-6 scratched him out.
The mark would have increased his chances at making the Nike Outdoor National Meet in Greensboro, N.C. next month, which currently has a qualifying mark of 15-6.25. There is a possibility that the mark will be lowered.
One of the keys to Artusio's success is the competitive yet supportive pole vault community of Frederick County.
It included Bobby Rankin of Linganore taking third at 13-0, which was also what Thomas Johnson's fourth-place Charles Lord finished at. And Richard Wilkinson, another Lancer, was fifth at 12-0.
Even in the girls competition there was Frederick representation, with Sarah Lueck of Urbana finishing second at 10-6.
The other big Day 2 winner in the field events was Emily Vannoy in the discus, throwing a mark of 138-3. She beat Chesapeake's Lauren Allam by 1 foot, 3 inches, as both scored their best marks on their final throws.
The Patriots boys team added a few more points on the field, with Momodou Drammeh leaping to third in the high jump and Nick Forbes earning fifth in the shot put.
Tuscarora's Dominic Clarke wrapped up his high school track career by capturing the 3A 400, while teammate Fabian Gonzalez was fifth.
They both ran on the second-place 4x400 team, but Clarke clearly aimed for taking first place, despite slipping deep into third place at the hand-off.
"I've done it before, I've come from behind," Clarke said. "I just don't know what happened. My legs just got heavy."
Clarke was also third in the 200.
The Tuscarora boys 4x200 meter relay team of Kevin Johnson, Jakarie Jackson, Fabian Gonzalez and Clarke won the 3A title in a scorching 1 minute, 27.83 seconds. Frederick's Javar Cruz was second in the 3A 300 hurdles, while Thomas Johnson's Stephanie Bryan was third in the 4A girls 3,200.
Over at the triple jump pit, Tuscarora's Courtney Gray was sixth in the girls competition while Laquan Randolph of Tuscarora was fifth in the boys long jump. Frederick's Mac Stephen was sixth in the 3A shot put.
