Athletes Worth Watching
By Andrew Keatts
KENDALL FARNHAM
Severn School
Swimming & Cross-Country
Farnham is an All-County performer in two sports, swimming and cross-country; the former is her main sport that she hopes to continue in college. She began swimming at age six in Japan, where she and her family lived for several years. Her father, Austin Farnham, is an engineer and business entrepreneur who took on a venture in Japan. “In Japan they really worked with me, fixing my feet and fixing my arms and working my techniques for the butterfly,” said Farnham. “So, when I got here, I already had the technique and built my endurance.” By the time Kendall was in fourth grade, the family was back in the states and the young lady joined the SPY club swimming team. Farnham has been with SPY ever since and is a junior at Severn, swimming the butterfly and 200 Individual Medley for coach Carolyn Cosentino. It’s with SPY, under the tutelage of coaches Christee Ballard and Jim Hutchinson, that she has developed and honed her skills. “We have eight practices a week and travel to meets in Raleigh [North Carolina] for three days and districts, states, and nationals later in the spring,” said Farnham, who loves to eat, especially animal crackers. “Your team is like your family. I spend a lot of time with my teammates.” She says she is one of the shorter butterfly athletes at 5’6”. Her 100-meter fly is top 10 collegiately speaking, but Farnham says she needs to work on her 200-meter fly. Farnham says swimming for SPY as compared to the Admirals’ school team “is incomparable,” competitively speaking. She took 10th place in the Nationals among 100 swimmers. Academically, Farnham, whose younger sister Margot is a freshman on the Severn swim team, is really into math and science and is leaning toward following in her dad’s footsteps by studying engineering in college. She is interested in Princeton and Duke. She carries a 4.01 grade-point-average and will soon take the SAT. She is the daughter of Austin and Reneé Farnham.
ANDREW FINLAYSON
Severna Park High School,
Cross-Country & Indoor/Outdoor Track
Finlayson runs year-round on three teams for the Falcons earning All-State and All-County honors while also excelling in the classroom with a 4.15 grade-point-average and 2,020 on his SAT. He is ranked 38th in his senior class of 440 and plans to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. After finishing second in the county and taking All-County honors in cross country, Finlayson is focusing more on track this indoor season and he credits Falcon coach Josh Alcombrite for the change. “Last year my mileage was 45–50 miles a week and I really couldn’t handle it, but this year, we cut down to 35–40 a week and I can handle it much better,” said Finlayson, who had reluctantly run the two-mile. “I’ve been improving my times 30–40 seconds over last year. I’m less tired and doing more of what I like to do, which is speed and sprints. This year indoors, I’m running 500 and 800 (meters) and outdoors I’ll switch to the mile. I probably wouldn’t be running if he [Coach Alcombrite, third year at Severna Park] wasn’t my coach. We butted heads the first year because of my arrogance because I wasn’t as mature as the rest of the team. This year we have really meshed well together and we came to the understanding that I wasn’t a two-mile runner and what I really wanted to do was the mile and 800 and I’ve pretty much beaten all of my times.” Finlayson, who excels in calculus and AP physics, hopes to run in college and study mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon. Aerospace engineering has really peaked his interest because of an uncle who is a military engineer and was one of the designers of the UAV Predator. “We talked about that and it really fascinated me,” said Finlayson, who also makes electronic music on his computer. “After talking with him, I decided that what I wanted to do was aerospace or something mechanical, like cars.” Finlayson is the son of Steven and Patricia Finlayson.
RUSSELL JACOBSEN
Broadneck High School
Basketball
Jacobsen has taken on more of a scoring role with the Bruins this season as they look to be one of the county’s top teams. Last year as a junior guard/forward, Jacobsen averaged 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, but coach John Williams is counting on the 6’3” senior to contribute more this season. “Russell is a very consistent and heady player who is a triple threat for our team as a slasher, post, and perimeter player,” said Williams, who made Jacobsen a captain this season. Jacobsen says the team has “a deep bench” that should enable the Bruins to compete in what is a really tough county league. “We have great chemistry,” said Jacobsen. “We’ve all been playing together for awhile and are good friends. We have a lot of fun out there and our coaches, coach Williams and coach Keith (V.J.), are really good teachers.” Jacobsen has a 3.6 grade-point-average, scored 1,610 on his SAT, and is a member of the Latin Club. He hopes to play in college, possibly at the Division III level. “I’ve gotten some letters from D-III schools and I would likely play guard in college, so I need to improve my ball handling. And I need to get a little bit stronger to play in college.” Jacobsen also plays good defense, which is an asset in terms of the next level. He says he will likely major in geography in college because, “we’ve got problems with the earth and hopefully I can do something to help the world.” Jacobsen is the son of Peter and Karen Jacobsen.
KATIE MCGAHAGAN
Northeast High School
Field Hockey, Basketball & Lacrosse
McGahagan is a three-sport standout for the Eagles while also maintaining academic excellence. The senior was a second-team All-County basketball player as a junior, was the county’s second leading scorer (16.2 points per game), and was honorable mention in field hockey this past fall. “It can be a little hectic playing three sports, but you have to manage your time wisely,” said McGahagan, who has kept up the rigorous schedule all the way through high school while maintaining a 4.3 grade-point-average with a 1,500 SAT and is ranked 40th in a senior class of 266. “It keeps you busy, but it’s fun. My parents have always encouraged me to work hard and do well in school in order to pursue your future.” McGahagan also is a member of the National and Spanish Honor Societies, the Varsity Club, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Basketball is her “favorite and best sport,” and the 5’11” McGahagan hopes to play at Salisbury University and major in athletic training and sports medicine. McGahagan plays on the Maryland Thunder Amateur Athletic Union summer team of coach Tonya Hill. The Thunder won a tournament in Maryland to qualify for the AAU Nationals in Florida and McGahagan said, “the experience really helped everyone get ready for high school ball [because of the high-level of competition]. Coach Hill is a good coach and wants us to succeed not only on the court, but in everything else,” said McGahagan. The Northeast team of second-year coach Kristi Ellenberger won only one game last season, but McGahagan expects them to do much better this season. “We should be pretty decent and hopefully get some wins because most of us played AAU ball last summer,” said McGahagan. McGahagan is the daughter of Tim, who played basketball and lacrosse at Brooklyn Park High and the University of Baltimore, and Yvonne McGahagan.
Tags:
RUSSELL JACOBSEN
Broadneck High School
sports
anne arundel county
ANDREW FINLAYSON
Cross-Country
Field Hockey
ield Hockey
athletes
Indoor/Outdoor Track
Severna Park High School
KATIE MCGAHAGAN
Swimming
Basketball
Lacrosse
Northeast High School
Severn School
KENDALL FARNHAM
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