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Team Accolades
It was the first indoor county title won by the Springbrook girls team. Springbrook's girls had finished second at the county meet in 1990, 2023, and 2025. 90 points was the highest point total ever scored by Springbrook at the indoor county meet, and it was the highest point total at the indoor county meet by any team since 2019.
It was the fifth county title in meet history for the Northwest boys and also the fifth county title by Northwest in the past ten county meets. The Northwest boys have a streak of 12 consecutive county meets finishing in the top 3.
The Paint Branch boys maintained a streak of thirteen consecutive county meets finishing in the top ten, one better than the Northwest boys team's active streak.
The Northwest girls have the longest active streak finishing in the top ten at the indoor county championship meet with sixteen consecutive county meets. Paint Branch is next closest among girls teams with nine consecutive county meets with a top ten finish.
The Montgomery Blair girls' second place finish matched the best in school history and equaled the best team finish by Blair since 2005. 64.5 points was the most points ever scored by Blair at the indoor county meet.
Meet Record
With one jump, Bakari Taylor of Winston Churchill High School erased three names from the record book. There was a three-way tie for the meet record in the boys high jump at six-foot-seven-inches. According to Churchill Coach Scott Silverstein, Bakari believed he was attempting six-foot-eight-inches to break the record, but breaking the meet record prompted a re-measurement which resulted in a six-foot-seven-and-a-half-inch measurement for the new record. Taylor's attempts at six-foot-eleven-inches were unsuccessful.
A New Kind of Record
Winning four events has long been the ultimate achievement in high school track. Winning four individual events (non-relay) is even better. MPSSAA changed the game this year when adopting a rule change to allow athletes to compete in up to six events. It took no time at all for the Montgomery County Championship Meet to recognize its first six-event champion. Funmilola (Lola) Ayoku of team champion Springbrook High School won the 55-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and contributed to the winning 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relays. What's more, all of Ayoku's performances were top twenty in meet history. The 55-meter hurdles (8.35) was the #14 performance in meet history (#7 individual performer). The high jump (5-04) tied for #13 in meet history. The long jump (17-08) was #7 in meet history. The triple jump (36-01) was #19 in meet history. The 4x2 (1:45.76) was #13 in meet history. The 4x4 (4:06.27) was #9 in meet history.
A New MVP Honor
For the first time ever, MCPS recognized a meet MVP for the indoor track county championship meet. The procedure mirrored that of the outdoor county championship meet where coaches voted for the meet MVP while there was still a little bit of time left in the meet.
The honor for the girls meet MVP went to...you guessed it: Funmilola Ayoku. The boys meet MVP honors went to Etornam Agbonyitor of Springbrook High School.
No one can compete with six county titles in a single meet, but a valid candidate for meet MVP was Poolesville's Teagan Bandholz who recorded the #2 performance in meet history in the shot put, 42-01.75. If the senior wins her two specialty events in dominating fashion at the outdoor county championship meet, coaches will take notice.
Agbonyitor won the triple jump (44-07) and 300-meter dash (35.00). He also finished 4th in the long jump (20-01.50), 12th in the 500-meter run (1:10.01), and contributed to the second place 4x400-meter relay (3:32.87). The triple jump was #7 in meet history. The 300m was #2 in meet history (better than his coach, Bryan Steele, who was the one-time meet record-holder, 35.1 (hand-timed) in 2002). The 4x400-meter was #25 in meet history. The combination of 300-meter and triple jump county titles has never been won by an MCPS athlete at the indoor county championship meet (male or female).
Other candidates for the meet MVP on the boys side were surely Taylor of Churchill, Jacob Breitstein of Churchill who threw 54-01.50 to win the shot put (#6 in meet history), and Shiloh Bryant-Serrano of Paint Branch who won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.75 (#14 in meet history) and long jump in 22-02.25 (#7 in meet history).
Individual Accolades
Wheaton's Iyanni Daley four-peated. She is now a four-time 55-meter dash county champion, this year in 7.18. Her 2024 time of 7.04 is #2 in meet history, but she battled injuries to return to the top of the podium in 2026. Taylor Wright (Northwest '19) and Olivia Ekponé (Northwest '11) were others to accomplish the same feat.
The boys 500-meter was the closest in meet history. Darly Philogene of Springbrook out-leaned Tyler Hall of Northwest, 1:06.41 to 1:06.42. Walter Johnson's Jack Fiening was a split-second behind in 1:06.76.
New Top-10 Performances in Montgomery County Championship Meet History:
New #1 - Bakari Taylor Winston Churchill 6-07.50 Boys High Jump
New #2 - Etornam Agbonyitor Springbrook 35.00 Boys 300m
New #6 - Jacob Breitstein Winston Churchill 54-01.50 Boys Shot Put
New #7 - Montgomery Blair 3:30.36 Boys 4x400m
New #7 - Shiloh Bryant-Serrano Paint Branch 22-02.25 Boys Long Jump
New #7 - Etornam Agbonytitor Springbrook 44-07.00 Boys Triple Jump
New #10 - Benjamin Burckle Montgomery Blair 4:23.97 Boys 1600m
New #2 - Teagan Bandholz Poolesville 42-01.75 Girls Shot Put
New #7 - Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook 17-08.00 Girls Long Jump
New #9 - Springbrook 4:06.27 Girls 4x400m
New #10 - James H. Blake 4:06.98 Girls 4x400m
New #10 - Eleanor Finnegan Thomas S. Wootton 11:12.59 Girls 3200m
FIRST EVENT CHAMPIONS FROM THEIR SCHOOL:
Athletes and relays listed here were the first from their school to ever win their event at the MCPS Indoor County Championship Meet
Karim Alexander Sherwood Boys 55m
Benjamin Burckle Montgomery Blair Boys 1600m
Etornam Agbonyitor Springbrook Boys Triple Jump
Anayimi Emah Montgomery Blair Girls 500m
Eleanor Finnegan Thomas S. Wootton Girls 3200m
Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook Girls 55-meter hurdles
Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook Girls Long Jump
Springbrook Girls 4x200-meter Relay |
