Severna Park cross country coach Josh Alcombright describes Josephine Kamas as a “very focused and intense young lady.”
Sometimes, Kamas is too focused and too intense, Alcombright added.
Kamas acknowledges as much. Even during training runs, she finds herself worrying about pace and time and form. Alcombright urged the standout sophomore to relax and enjoy herself. His message to Kamas was: You think too much.
“We’ve talked a lot about my anxiety and how it plays into my running. A lot of times during a race I’ll be thinking too much about how things are going to unfold,” Kamas said. “Coach A has told me to just go out there and run, to not think or worry about anything. Running is supposed to be fun and fulfilling. Coach has encouraged me to prioritize having fun and loving the sport.”
Kamas took that advice to heart and a more laid-back approach made success even sweeter. She captured county and region championships then finished third at the state meet on the way to being named Capital Gazette girls cross country Runner of the Year for the second straight season.
With Kamas leading the way, Severan Park claimed the Class 3A state championship for the third straight year and eighth time overall.
“Josie is the type of runner who gets better as the race or workout goes along. She is just really strong, continues to grind and usually makes her move in the last half mile,” Alcombright said. “Josie is very, very coachable and will do exactly what you tell her to do. She does much better when you provide specific instructions.”
Kamas played soccer and was a competitive swimmer prior to high school. She had planned to join the track and field program at Severna Park and only considered cross country because several soccer teammates said the sport was fun.
“To be honest, I never thought about doing cross country because I thought I was always made to be a sprinter, which could not be further from the truth,” Kamas said. “Once I got into cross country I realized that I had potential. I’m a really competitive person and used this sport as a way to keep active and healthy.”
Kamas made rapid progress for a freshman, going from not being part of the varsity roster to being named Runner of the Year. She started this season as the team’s top runner and lived up to that billing during the championship season.
Alcombright believes Kamas has the ability to become a collegiate distance runner and decided to increase her weekly mileage for development purposes.
“I upped her volume more than I would for most sophomores and it was an adjustment for Josie. That was something we had to work through,” Alcombright said. “I was kind of looking toward the future as far as building a stronger base.”
Kamas went from running 25 to 30 miles per week last season to 40 to 45 this season. Fortunately, she had built a solid base by running the 2-mile during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons then consistently training during the summer.
All the extra mileage took a toll early on, but Kamas could feel herself getting stronger over the course of cross country season.
“It was a big, big jump as far as mileage. I was working with the juniors and seniors in order to build my endurance and Coach A was great with coaching me about how to handle the higher volume,” Kamas said. “It was just a matter of trusting the process, coming out every day and working hard. Hopefully, it will benefit me during junior and senior year.”
Severna Park’s strategy was to run as a pack for as long as possible then let the strongest team members go for the win. The Falcons held five girls together for a mile and a half before Kamas and Kathryn Murphy, the 2023 county champion, moved ahead of the others.
Kamas made her move on what has become known as “Coffin Climb” and outkicked Murphy over the final quarter of a mile, posting a time of 19 minutes, 26.07 seconds on the Annapolis High course.
“Right when I got to the top of that hill and was really hurting is when I broke away. Instead of slowing down and giving my body time to recover, that is when I went,” said Kamas, who led a 1-2-3 sweep for the Falcons.
It was a similar story at the Class 3A East Region meet, held at Chesapeake High. Kamas credits freshman teammate Lexi Fitzsimmons with setting the pace during a key point in the race.
“Lexi pushed me in the middle of that race when I was struggling,” said Kamas, who found her rhythm with about a mile left and steadily pulled away to win in 18:49.63.
North Hagerstown standout runner Lauren Stine was the favorite going into the Class 3A state championships, which has been held for years on the notoriously difficult course at Hereford High. Alcombright knew Howard’s Claire Sivitz had posted impressive times as well and expected those two to set a blistering pace.
Inevitably, a couple other runners would try to latch onto the coattails of those two frontrunners. Alcombright advised Kamas to not go out with the lead pack and instead spearhead the second group.
“I wanted Josie to run at her own pace and knew she would be stronger in the second half of the race,” Alcombright said. “Sure enough, she reeled in a lot of runners down the stretch.”
Kamas acknowledges being “anxious” about the state meet because the Hereford High course is so challenging. The grueling three-mile track is noted for its hills, twists and turns as well as a steep ravine known as “The Dip,” which runners must tackle twice.
Alcombright thought Kamas could finish top three provided she stayed patient and waited for the right time to make her move. She stayed at the front of the second pack and reevaluated the situation every half a mile.
Kamas decided to go just shy of the two-mile mark and found she had another gear at a time when others were beginning to lose energy.
“I made my move coming out of the woods and by the time I got to the final run up the dip, it was about battling for every spot,” she said. “You can either slow down or let the pain take over or you can keep pushing.”
Sure enough, Stine proved the strongest and pulled away to win in 18:23.46 with Sivitz crossing second in 18:47.18. Kamas passed Sherwood’s Maddy Quirion in the home stretch then ran neck-and-neck with River Hill’s Alyssa Mattes before pulling ahead at the finish line to take third in 19:02.84.
“I caught up to (Quirion and Mattes) and paced behind them for a while. It was a real battle for third place and I was so happy to pull it out,” said Kamas, who finished less than a second ahead of Mattes.
Stine is a senior, but Kamas and Sivitz are both sophomore and figure to do battle at the state meet for the next couple seasons. Alcombright has no doubt his star runner can become a state champ.
“Jose is just going to get stronger and stronger, so it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “I think by the end of next season she will be ready to challenge for a state championship.”
Kamas noted the importance of staying healthy and believes the indoor and outdoor track seasons will be critical to building a solid foundation.
“Coach A is very experienced and has developed so many amazing runners, so I trust in his plan,” she said.
Coach of the Year
Josh Alcombright, Severna Park
Runners come and go, but the results remain the same for Severna Park girls cross country. The Falcons graduated three All-County performers and did not miss a beat, sweeping the county, region and state championships for the third straight season.
Of course, a major reason for that sustained success is that Severna Park has so much depth there is always a large contingent of talented returning runners. While the Falcons lost three starters, they returned six other All-County selections.
Further bolstering an already loaded lineup was freshman Lexi Fitzsimmons, a former lacrosse player whose rapid development solidified Severna Park’s top four.
“In the last couple years we’ve started to gain the depth the boys team had for many years. The cupboard is full, for sure,” Alcombright said. “My coaching philosophy is that I’m always coaching three teams — the current varsity, next year’s varsity and the future varsity.”
Having eight to nine varsity-caliber runners is a luxury that enables the Falcons to withstand injuries, illness or dropoff in performance by a particular runner.
“Every team is always different and running is up and down. You’re going to have spurts when you’re running really well and spells when you’re struggling,” Alcombright said. “Our top seven changes a lot over the course of the season.”
Alcombright credits the returning runners for being diligent about following offseason workouts. He and the staff do not need to spend a lot of time rebuilding strength and stamina.
“I think the key for any championship cross country team is the work you do between June and September,” he said.
Kamas led a sweep of the podium placements and Severna Park had four runners finish in the top five in capturing the team title at the Anne Arundel County Championships with a low score of 15 points. That was a whopping 58 better than runner-up South River.
Kamas was once again the individual winner and Severna Park had six other runners place second through 11th in topping the team standings at the Class 3A East Region meet with 46 points. South River was once again a distant second with 116 points.
Severna Park was expected to three-peat as Class 3A state champs, a status that could have put pressure on the runners. Instead, the Falcons embraced being the team to beat and blew away the competition in posting a low score of 48. Runner-up Towson was 53 points behind, while third place Thomas Wootton was 94 points off the pace.
“Our girls had the big bullseye on their backs all season long. I was really proud of how they handled it,” Alcombright said. “They went into the state meet as heavy favorites and did not blink it all. They ran above expectations.”
Severna Park will lose just one senior in Natalie Bowman and return all seven runners that scored at the state meet.
All-County first team
Charlotte Bunting, South River, senior
Bunting was the Seahawks’ top runner and seventh-place finisher at the county championships. She was also seventh at the 3A East Region meet and 13th at the 3A state championships. She won the early season Chesapeake Invitational.
Jocelyn DiAngelo, Severna Park, junior
DiAngelo finished sixth at the county meet and was runner-up at the 3A North Region meet in a 5K personal best 19:04.3. She closed the year with a 12th-place finish at the 3A state meet.
Lexi Fitzsimmons, Severna Park, freshman
Fitzsimmons capped her first high school season by finishing seventh in 3A at the state championships (19:23.1). She was third in the county, fourth at the 3A East Region meet and broke 19 minutes for the first time at the NXR Southeast Regional Championships (18:52.5).
Isabel Meadows-Soto, Old Mill, senior
Meadows-Soto was the only non-Severna Park runner in the top six at the county meet, finishing fourth. She was fifth at the 3A East Region meet in a personal record 19:27.5. She was 18th at the 3A state championships.
Kathryn Murphy, Severna Park, junior
Murphy was runner-up behind her teammate, Kamas, at the county championship meet. She finished 11th at the 3A state meet. Her best time was 18:44 to finish fifth at the early season Seahawk Invitational.
Emma Patrick, Severn, junior
Patrick didn’t run much scholastically in the fall, but when she did, she won. She claimed the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland championship with the best time out of all the conferences and ran 18:04.2 to win the Maryland Private School title.
Brooklynn Ricker, Annapolis, senior
Ricker’s best race was a fourth-place finish at the 4A East Region meet (20:27.8). She was also eighth in the Large School Division at the Frank Keyser Invitational and finished 11th at the county meet.
All-County second team
Natalie Bowman, Severna Park, senior
Sydney Davis, Severna Park, junior
Lilly Downs, Spalding, freshman
Julia Hudson, Crofton, freshman
Makenzie Phillips, South River, junior
Valeria Saenz, Severna Park, junior
Alexandra Vosburg, Chesapeake, sophomore
Lynzey Zeldis, Key, freshman
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