Maryland 4A3A Men’s High School State Championships

By Brian Savard

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland, April 2. JUSTIN Vagts of South River flirted with both of his 2007 state records at the 2008 Maryland 4A3A Championships, but in the end, Vagts had to settle for two gold medals, falling just short of his state marks in the 200 and 500 freestyles.

Vagts kicked off the meet with a convincing 1:46.59 win in the 200 freestyle. Vagts also paced the 500 freestyle field, touching the wall at 4:43.85. Vagts holds the state records in each event with times of 1:45.89 and 4:43.13, respectively.

Broadneck's Doug McWhorter mined gold in each of the sprint events, taking both the 50 (22.35) and 100 (48.75) freestyle events.

Tim Deklau from Arundel set a state record in the 200 IM with a 2:00.53, smashing Charlie Melesh of Annapolis' 2007 mark of 2:03.14. Deklau also placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.82).

Huntingtown shaved more than a second off of the 200 medley relay state record as the foursome of Thomas Morgan, Nathan Stephens, Charlie Vasko and Luke Dohrman won with a 1:43.90 time. Fallston set the former mark of 1:45.14 last year. The Huntingtown contingent of Stephens, John Sheldon, Dohrman and Morgan missed the state mark by .08, taking first nonetheless in 1:34.32.

Broadneck picked up its first-ever Maryland 4A3A state championship with a 225-point outing. Urbana, the 2007 1-3A state champion, placed second with 193 points. South River edged Thomas Johnson for third by a 186-182 margin.

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