Emma Patrick ’26 Named IAAM Athlete of the Week After Impressive First Place Finish at Cross Country Championships

Patrick shaved a full minute off her previous best time and finished with a 46-second lead over the closest competitor to claim the individual title. She finished the race with an impressive time of 18:14. The championship meet was held at Shawan Downs in Cockeysville.

“I just tried to keep pushing,” said Patrick, who is in her first season as a cross-country competitor. “I just wanted to run my race.”

A talented runner, Patrick is one to watch, having earned IAAM 2023 All-Conference Honors for Track & Field in her freshman year. She also represented Severn at the New Balance Outdoor Track & Field Nationals at UPenn, where she finished 13^th out of 50 runners in the Girls’ Freshman 1-mile.

“After the success of last year's track season, Emma has dedicated herself to the sport of running,” said Head Coach Skip Sensbach. “She puts in 100% during each practice with one goal in mind: to get faster. But what makes Emma so special is that you'll never hear her talk about her accomplishments, she will always support the other runners first and let her running talk for her. In varsity cross country, having the first runner doesn't mean anything if we also don't have six other dedicated runners following up that first-place win. Cross Country is a team sport and Emma is very much a team player.”
 

The championship meet was a great event overall for Severn’s Girls Cross Country team. In addition to Patrick’s gold-medal performance, Rowan Palmer ’27 placed 4^th, Whitney Grimes ’24 placed 12^th, Ella Foote ’25 placed 13^th, Elizabeth Maltz ’27 placed 22^nd, Penelope Lindsay '27 placed 27^th, and Nylasia Pratt ’26 placed 34^th. Severn took 2^nd place in the “B” Conference Championships, falling narrowly to Mercy.