Amidst all of the outstanding performances this week, one stands out as perhaps the greatest breakout performance of the decade. After three and a half years of running for Richard Montgomery and getting his 400-meter time down to the 51-52 range, Jeremy Blair broke out with an automatically timed 400-meter run of 48.20 at the Best Buy of Waldorf Track Classic. Although many local track fans spent the day at the Viking Invitational in Bethesda, coaches and fans were buzzing about Blair's same-day performance half way across the state. Three or four coaches were said to have him hand-timed at or under 48 seconds. Blair has been teammates with numerous county and state champions at RM over the last three years, but this single performance may surpass any of their accomplishments. It was the fastest 400 meter run by a Montgomery County athlete since Bryan Steele of Gaithersburg ran 48.01 in 2002.
Also at the Best Buy meet, Katie Salke of Sherwood ran 14.65 to win the 100-meter hurdles. The time ranks 4th in Montgomery County this decade and is the fastest since Audrey Gariepy-Bogui of Churchill ran 13.77 in 2007.
Avery Graham 10.83 100m - Fastest by a Montgomery County athlete since Rashaad Woodard of Bullis ran 10.55 in 2003. Fastest by a public school athlete in at least ten years. Page Harris 18-03 Long Jump - Longest jump by a Montgomery County athlete since Toni Aluko of Paint Branch jumped 18-09 in 2005. Ranks #2 in Montgomery County this decade.
Marcus Brown of Quince Orchard threw 165 in the discus - furthest throw by a Montgomery County athlete in at least a decade. Tom Brosius of Springbrook threw 189-02 in 1968. Mark House of Good Counsel threw 183-10 in 1985. The Montgomery County Championship Meet record is 164-01.50 by Mathias Nkwente of Wootton in 1996 (Nkwente played briefly in the NFL later on). Brown also threw a personal best 58-04 in the shot put.
A thrilling moment took place in the girls 1600 as Wootton's Jessie Rubin surged past Stephanie Bryan of Thomas Johnson on the last lap and past Brittany Cauddle of Middletown in the final moments to win 5:12.85 to 5:12.92.
Girls 800 - River Hill's Katie Harman attempts to win her third race of the day, but Sidwell Friends freshman Kara Wilson outkicks her in 2:20.70
Girls 4x400 - Northwest runs away with it and wins in 4:00.73, but Olivia Ekpone's 55 second anchor leg is worth watching
Girls 4x100 - Churchill sets their school record at 49.81, but Magruder almost catches them at the end
Girls 1600 - Georgetown Visitation Freshman Stephanie Jones challenges the top dogs before Katie Harman of River Hill runs away with it in 5:10.04
Girls 100 - St. Stephens St. Agnes's Danielle Williams explodes past Ekpone and Wolf at the very end to win in 12.07. All three girls went under the previous meet record. Williams later won the 200 in 25.20.
Boys 800 - Ramsey Chapin and Carl Dennis of Georgetown Prep both set PR's by going 1-2 in the 800. Chapin was doubling back from winning the 1600 and set the meet record with his time of 1:56.34.
Boys 400 - Northwest's Chris Onuigbo and Landon's Leland Pittman both go under 50. This race couldn't be any closer.
Boys 4x400 - It's Chris Onuigbo again...this time chasing down Bowie in the 4x400.
Boys 110 Hurdles - Seck Barry of St. Albans is going to be tough to beat this year.
Girls 4x800 - That Northwest won is no surprise. That they ran 9:34.29 is impressive.
Boys 4x800 - Joseph Woiwode of Georgetown Prep provides the most exciting finish to a race of the entire meet
Owen Cain of Gaithersburg ran a county best time of 15.10 (4th) in the 110 hurdles, and jumped county best marks of 6-04 (2nd) and 43-10 (2nd) in the high jump and triple jump respectively. Sean Stanley won the shot put with a throw of 55-10 and placed second in the discus with a throw of 145-02. Antonio Palmer placed second in the 400 with a time of 49.73 and won the 800 in a time of 1:57.60.
The Paint Branch girls ran a county-leading time of 49.16 (6th) in the 4x100,and Arielle Statham ran 57.00 in the 400 for fourth place. Northwood's Le'Quisha Parker ran 12.64 (7th) in the 100 and 25.64 (6th) in the 200.
Damascus traveled all the way to West Virginia for the Harry Green Invitational. Lakayja Alston was voted the female athlete of the meet based on points and performance. She was second in the 100 (13.06), first in the 200 (26.63) and first in the 400 (1:00.12).
Thomas Arias anchored the winning 4x800 relay with a 2:00 split. He followed that up with a 4:42 1600 for second place, a 2:02 800 for first place, and contributed to the winning 4x400 relay (3:28.78).
