Baltimore Polytechnic Institute girls' outdoor track coach Latoya Johnson is quick to tell you she takes immense pride in how her team performed at this year's Maryland Public Secondary School Athletics Association Class 3A state championship.
The Engineers amassed 54 points, which was good enough to finish second behind Urbana, which accrued 71. It was an excellent result, especially considering Poly only competed in nine events at the state finals, while Urbana participated in 13.
"When I saw that, I was very surprised. It made me very appreciative of the group I had," Johnson said. "Even though we finished second, we still feel like we're state champions because of how well we did."
Two significant reasons Poly was successful are senior Deja Stevenson and junior Nadia Hackett. The duo scored 52 of Poly's points through their efforts in individual events.
