Curley Clinches Title

By: Zach Seidel

The Archbishop Curley varsity track team clinched at least a share of its fourth straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association regular season title earlier this week when it beat Gilman.

The Friars topped Gilman, 80-66, to stay perfect in the conference and capture the title once again for coach Gene Hoffman.

Eric Franklin once again sparked the Friars with victories in the 110-meter hurdles and 300 hurdles in times of 14.5 and 40.2 seconds, respectively. The Friars showed their depth to come up with the points needed to beat a strong Gilman team.

Jerome Junior then turned in an outstanding performance to carry the day for Curley. The versatile Friar won the 100 in 10.8, the high jump with a leap of 6 feet 2 inches, the long jump with a jump of 20-10, and the discus with a throw of 128 feet.

George Chambers continues to develop into one of the area’s top runners. He won the 400 in 51.0 and captured the 200 in 22.5.

Teammate Tim Skarda won the 3,200 in 10:25. Byron Branch also helped the Friars by winning the triple jump with a jump of 40 feet. The 400 and 800 relay teams also won as Curley showed how strong it is in distance, sprints and field events.

The big question is if Gilman, Mount St. Joe or anyone else can knock off the Friars at the conference championship meet in two weeks.