The outdoor track season is about one-third of the way over, but we are now at the half-way point between the beginning of the season and the Montgomery County Championship Meet. It will be here before you know it and you will have the opportunity to vote for your top ten teams as the meet draws nearer. For now, I'm going to take a stab at the top overall teams in Montgomery County in this "mid-season" ranking.
This ranking is opinionated, but also based on a mock county meet that I've scored based on where the top athletes in the county could finish in each event. I have taken into consideration that athletes can only compete in four events (this makes it very tricky to predict the relays). I have taken into account more athletes than the few that I mention in this article! I just don't mention every athlete to keep it brief.
I have not taken into account points in the pole vault, partly because I honestly don't know which athletes are going to do the pole vault this year, and it also seems more fair to compare teams without the pole vault since many schools do not participate.
I arbitrarily cut the ranking off at twenty teams, but that's not to say that the remaining teams do not have any athletes capable of scoring points.
1. Gaithersburg - The county's toughest trio of seniors, Owen Cain, Antonio Palmer, and Sean Stanley, will grab the big points. A versatile supporting cast makes Gaithersburg the most well-rounded team in the county.
2. Good Counsel - A Good Counsel team strongly rooted in sprinting would score big at a county championship meet that hypothetically includes private schools, but would also spread their presence to the distance and throwing events.
3. Clarksburg - It's hard to say which is better: Clarksburg sprinters or Clarksburg's throwers. Sometimes they are one in the same. They are not as deep as last year, but Avery Graham and company could defend their county title with dominance at the top.
4. Northwest - Northwest has so much versatility that I suspect they will finish top four in every relay. Marvin Lisk has come on strong to be competitive on the same level as Hassan Dixon and Chris Onuigbo.
5. Georgetown Prep - Georgetown Prep would barely be a 2A school if they were a public school with an equal number of girls, but these guys can boast several of the top athletes in the county. Brandon Tisdale, Joseph Woiwode, and Ramsey Chapin in particular would be candidates to win county titles.
6. Whitman - Anthony Young-Wiseman, Andrew Palmer, and Jonathan Hale will be in contention to win multiple county titles.
7. Quince Orchard - Wayne Bartholomew and Marcus Brown are the dynamic duo. Other sprinters and throwers could sneak in some points.
8. Paint Branch - Marcus Willacy and Malcolm Wyche are having great senior seasons while Reggie Steele is just getting warmed up as a junior.
9. Damascus - One of the toughest dual meet teams around, Damascus will count on points from Thomas Arias, Sam Weeks, and strong relays to get them in the top ten.
10. Blair - Blair showed at the Cougar and Woodward Relays that their sprint relays are still something to be reckoned with. It remains to be seen how they are doing individually.
11. Churchill - Darren Harris was the first sprinter in the county to run sub-50 in the 400 this season. Distance crew is looking strong as always.
12. Sherwood - Solomon Haile rarely runs more than two events, but Kyle Balderson is looking fit, too.
13. Springbrook - Springbrook can grab a few points from nearly every event. Biggest points may come from hurdler Tyler Morton.
14. Magruder - Losing mid-distance runner Chris Gregorski to lacrosse hurts, but Nicolas Escobar and Steven Ha will be atop their respective events.
15. Walter Johnson - Distance runners will do most of the scoring. Peaking well will boost their standing.
16. Einstein - The best hurdling tandem not from Gaithersburg is Samuel Asiamah and Ibrahim Raheem of Einstein.
17. Richard Montgomery - The big points will be hard to come by with no real star, but hurdler Andrew Rodriguez is looking tough.
18. Watkins Mill - Quietly, Watkins Mill's sprinters are returning to 2007 form, but they are at least a year away.
19. Kennedy - Kennedy has possibly the county's #1 sprinter, Bisi Ezekoye.
20. B-CC - Versatile David Williams joined the team late this season and is rounding into shape.
Name
Comments
Anonymous
Friday, April 10, 2009 11:20:04 PM
16. Einstein - The best hurdling tandem not from Gaithersburg is Samuel Isiamah and Ibrahim Raheem of Einstein.
springbrook....
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 12:55:46 AM
why is good counsel on the list they dont score points in the county meet that is the stupiest thing I have ever seen take them off this list
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 09:51:37 AM
I bet you don't score points at the county meet, either.
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 12:02:09 PM
I think Blair(7) and NW (2) are more capable and may place a little higher than what you think KP .. my that's just me :)
Ibrahim Raheem
Saturday, April 11, 2009 02:13:57 PM
16. my boys name is Samuel Asiamah not Samuel Isiamah. Springbrook could make a case too...i'll give them that lol
Matt D.
Saturday, April 11, 2009 02:20:28 PM
Haha thanks Ibrahim, I mean we have 3 guys under 16...
Ibrahim Raheem
Saturday, April 11, 2009 02:41:33 PM
naw, I was talkin bout Reynaldo and Tyler lol jk yeah thats true, maybe we'll see who that third guy is on wednesday lol haha
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 02:48:55 PM
if good counsel was in the meet, they'd probably win...look at sean sutton...shokunbi..cortland
Matt D.
Saturday, April 11, 2009 03:57:35 PM
The reason I don't think GC can win is cause if private schools are allowed into the county meet, G-burg doesn't really loose any points. but can the GC sprinters score over Avery, Small, Haughton, Wayne, and the rest of the county. GC could only score light in the 1 and the 2, score maybe 20-30 points in the relays depending on how they spread their sprinters, and Discus, I think they would come about 3rd at a county meet, not getting over 60 points
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 11:08:27 PM
GC would put up a great run. The sprinting group is one of the best in the area. If one goes down another one steps up. You never know who will be running, but you can bet, they won't miss a beat. And please don't sleep on their Mid and Long distance runners....Throws...they might not be up there with the top two in the county, but there right behind them.
I'm sure they will be more than happy to run any County team anytime anywhere.....
Matt D.
Sunday, April 12, 2009 12:46:38 AM
Cortlandt could get a few points in the 400, maybe like 3-5; in the 800 Tallerico might score? I dunno if he has the experience as a sophomore to run as fast as he would need to, to score at a county meet, maybe a few points there; and if you don't break 4:30 or 9:50 then you won't score in the longer distances and I don't see anyone capable of that, graves isn't that good, as of yet.
Anonymous
Sunday, April 12, 2009 12:31:49 PM
Good Counsel DOES have the best 4x1, 4x4, and 4x8 times of the year, and it's not a huge stretch to say that they would score big in the 4x2 if this meet existed. So that's 30-35 points right there.
Anonymous
Sunday, April 12, 2009 10:01:57 PM
Cortlandt would most likely either win or be in the top 3 in the 400. THe long distance and middle distance would score low, but with the sprints, they would win and place their 2nd runner in the 2-4 spots the 100, 200. They would win 4x1, 4x2, 4x4,and the 4x8. The throwers would score 3-5 and jumpers 4-6...sounds like a County championship to me...
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 04:43:18 PM
I agree with the top 5 but I don't follow the other schools very much. I think WJ should be a little higher though.
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 07:29:42 PM
Yeah WJ should go up a few places. They're more than just distance- Duane Wilson will score high in the 100 and they're sure to place well in a few relays
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 08:14:11 PM
hah duane wilson scored 3 pts at the indoor county meet. he aint scoring anything if the pribate schools were there
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 07:53:10 AM
gregorski has played lax 4 4 years. why is he even mentioned in an outdoor article?
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 08:43:57 AM
Duane wilson is not even top 5 in the 100 so he is not going to score like 1 point in a real meet
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 08:45:29 AM
The problem I have with GC is that the Atletics there are able to recruit their whole team and that is why they are stacked up and that is a very unfair advantage to public schools
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 08:01:01 PM
I agree about the private schools ability to recruit, but could we get an all-public list and an all-private list and then compare teams that will face each other come championship time?
Duane Wilson
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 08:12:55 PM
Why is everyone on my case, im just trying to run like everyone else.
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 09:08:44 PM
I'm pretty sure GC does not recriut at all.
Anonymous
Monday, April 20, 2009 05:20:27 PM
Obviously KP was wrong about this. RM has no stars? Well, that was a pretty solid 400 Jeremy Blair ran the other day>>48.2! Also, how can Kennedy be ranked above B-CC if they got demolished by them?
