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. Churchill - For every weapon the other top teams have, Churchill has two. Katie Wolf, Maryam Fikri, Amirah Polite, Jenna Hawk, and many more make up the most well-rounded and deepest team in the county.
2. Northwest - Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that Olivia Ekpone now competes for Northwest and it looks like she has electrified the rest of the team. They are going to rack up some serious points, but they won't cover all the events quite like Churchill.
3. Paint Branch - Their core point scorers are some of the best athletes around. We might see Paint Branch aiming to break some county meet records. Vanessa Jules and Arielle Statham will be looking to leave their mark on the county.
4. Clarksburg - Winning the Woodward Relays was only the beginning for Clarksburg. This is the year to go for it for junior Lauren Sumner and seniors Turquoia Johnson, Page Harris, and Nana Langa. Freshman Bailee Freeman is a huge bonus.
5. Gaithersburg - Gaithersburg is among the top sprinting schools this year and Abby Spitler has carried over her strength from cross country to the track. The often-forgotten Lauren Rose grabs points in the jumps (and pole vault) when no one is looking.
6. Wootton - Jessie Rubin will keep her team in contention with the help of two of the strongest freshman athletes in the county, Casey Dowling and Grace Corbett.
7. B-CC - Addie Tousley will fight for her first outdoor track county titles this year, but she's not the only contributor. The supply of female distance runners at B-CC is semmingly endless.
8. Good Counsel - Good Counsel is great on the track, but lacking in the field. Mary Bartlett and sophomore duo Teju Adewole and Jade Whitaker will team up for strong sprints and relays.
9. Poolesville - Olivia Durr will shoot for a pair of county titles in the hurdle events. Jenny Reid and Karissa Harris will chip in on the 4x4 and open events.
10. Walter Johnson - Distance runners have carried WJ thus far, but freshman Laura Dally may be ready to break out any time.
11. Kennedy - Thea LaFond jumped 17 feet in the long jump in the first two dual meets. It's scary how good she's getting as a sophomore.
12. Damascus - Cross country has done wonders for Alex Carroll as she can now score big points in any distance race. Expect strong relays from Damascus.
13. Magruder - Magruder has a strong core of sprinters including Jasmine Scott and Rachel Watkins, but are otherwise young and inexperienced.
14. Whitman - Rachel Osnos and Tessa Morrison lead a young Whitman team which should improve with every meet.
15. Blair - In previous years, Sarah McMillian may have been the star sprinter in Montgomery County. This year, she and her relay teams will fight for respect.
16. Northwood - Last year's freshman 2A 200m state champion Le'Quisha Parker is back for more as a sophomore.
17. Blake - Octavia King was undoubtedly the best thrower in the county this indoor season. She may now be tops in two throwing events, but will get some tougher competition.
18. Sherwood - Katie Salke will try to establish herself as the county's premier hurdler.
19. Springbrook - Freshmen Lindsay Pinckney and Udeme Akpaete may be the start of something good for Springbrook. Milan White should be top three in the throwing events.
20. Quince Orchard - Aimee Moores and Stephanie Joson will be ready to roll. Contributions from a few younger athletes are possible.
Name
Comments
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 12:03:36 PM
Wotton is stronger than Gburg ..
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 04:48:40 PM
I run for Sherwood, and I'm shocked at how low we're ranked. Man these poles are ALWAYS ridiculous, Kevin. I used to respect your website and check it often, but now I'm afraid I cannot continue with the obsession. We just beat BCC in a duel meet so why is it that they are ranked much higher than we are in this pole? Not only did we beat both teams that were at the meet, but we were missing three of our top sprinters who were on a school trip to Italy. Our distance team is slowly but surely moving up, and our hurdlers have proved that they have what it takes to make it to the top. You ALWAYS rank our team at the bottom, even though we end up way higher than you rank us. At xc regionals the past three years, you guessed that we'd miss states to other teams like Blair and RM, but we pulled through and qualified by a long shot. Seriously, I think you've definitely underestimated us and I can't wait to prove you wrong this season.
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 05:31:22 PM
Dual are mainly about depth .. BCC doesn't have many runner but the ones they do hace are strong and likely to score in all the distance races and they have a strong 4x8.
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 11:14:00 PM
GC girls are very strong in the sprint. Not many teams ranked in front of them they couldn't compete with. They are lacking the field events, but word is they're working on them at a 'Frantic' pace
Anonymous
Saturday, April 11, 2009 11:17:24 PM
seriously, it's just his opinion or whatever, i think its pretty much accurate. be nice to kevin, lol. give him a break. nice write up.
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 01:29:57 PM
i am also a runner at sherwood and i agree.
for dual meets we have the potential to be number 1. wj and churchill will be tough but we talent in all events. it is a track TEAM. and as a team we can go undefeated this year. i just think churchill and wj should watch out
Monday, April 13, 2009 04:38:15 PM
churchill girls will go undefeated...
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 05:52:09 PM
I agree, Churchill Girls are strong across all events on the track and in the field.
Anonymous
Monday, April 13, 2009 10:07:40 PM
Northwest will take it all including Churchill
Anonymous
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:11:53 AM
does that include taking other schools athletes
Matt D.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:17:56 AM
Nw can't match Churchill's ability to score in field events
Anonymous
Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:06:41 AM
I like WATKINS MILL!!!! WHOOOAAA!!! Go Wolverines!!!
Anonymous
Sunday, April 19, 2009 04:41:58 PM
churchill and northwest are very good and do have great sprinters but they need to watch out; they definietly have some competition because magruder is not far behind them.
