PERRYVILLE, Md. — C. Milton Wright captured the 2026 UCBAC Varsity Girls Cross Country Championship on Oct. 20 at Perry Point Park, placing four runners among the top 15 and finishing with 55 points to hold off Edgewood and North Harford.
The Mustangs were led by junior Brielle Deaner, who claimed the individual UCBAC championship with a winning time of 18 minutes, 49.5 seconds. Deaner was the only runner in the field to break 19 minutes and finished nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Kaitlyn Kasten of Fallston, who recorded a personal-best 19:44.9.
C. Milton Wright sophomore Jillian Loper followed in third at 20:06.1, giving the Mustangs two of the first three finishers. Freshman Hannah Santavenere placed 14th in 21:43.4, and senior Carah Palmer was 15th in 21:53.4. Junior Michaela Welbeck completed C. Milton Wright’s five-runner scoring group in 22nd at 22:38.8.
Those performances gave C. Milton Wright 55 points and the conference championship, with its five scoring runners combining for a time of 1:45:11.2 and averaging 21:02.3.
Edgewood finished second with 67 points, putting three runners inside the top 10. Sophomore Jada Erickson led the Rams with a fifth-place finish in 20:40.5, edging Patterson Mill’s Vivienne Farmer by just one-tenth of a second. Junior Katherine Gotfredson finished seventh in 20:54.7, and junior Sofia Hedrington was ninth in 21:02.8.
Edgewood junior Charnele Johnson added an 18th-place finish in 22:21.9, while sophomore Scarlett Chester completed the Rams’ scoring five in 28th at 23:31.9. Edgewood’s five scorers combined for 1:48:31.8 and a 21:42.4 average.
North Harford placed third with 74 points, using one of the deepest packs in the field. Sophomore Harper Rutledge led the Hawks with a personal-best 21:01.6 for eighth place. Senior Mallory McCartney was 11th in a season-best 21:30.1, senior Madilyn Coyle finished 12th in 21:33.3, senior Emily Wilson was 20th in a season-best 22:26.1, and junior Alexa Scarff rounded out the scoring in 23rd at 22:38.9.
Patterson Mill finished fourth with 100 points, led by senior Hannahbelle Wang, who placed fourth overall in 20:34.4. Junior Vivienne Farmer was close behind in sixth at 20:40.6, giving the Huskies two runners among the top six.
Fallston rounded out the top five with 121 points, paced by Kasten’s runner-up performance. Senior Lucy Korpela also recorded a personal best, running 22:04.3 to finish 17th.
The remaining team standings were Bel Air sixth with 166 points, Rising Sun seventh with 174, Harford Tech eighth with 176, Bohemia Manor ninth with 196, and Perryville 10th with 294.
Harford Tech junior Anna Knapp also earned a top-10 finish, placing 10th with a personal-best 21:12.7, while Rising Sun senior Mikayla Horst finished 13th with a season-best 21:37.7.
The championship ultimately belonged to C. Milton Wright, which combined Deaner’s individual title with Loper’s third-place performance and enough depth behind them to finish 12 points ahead of Edgewood and 19 ahead of North Harford for the 2026 UCBAC crown.
