Prospective 3A State Champions from Montgomery County:

Arielle Statham, Paint Branch - Statham is going to have a tough time winning the 200 or 400 with Xauddina Whittington of Catonsville (among others) in the race, but she is considered the strong favorite in the triple jump. She has approached the 40 foot mark many times and could finally get it in her final high school meet.

Addie Tousley, B-CC - With a PR of 11:24 in the 3200 and 5:15 in the mile, Tousley seems overdue for her first track state title, but has not been as dominant lately. Her top competition could be her own teammate Paige Donnelly.

Paige Donnelly, B-CC - Donnelly's regional 3200 time of 11:39 gives her the top seed at the state meet. She will have to hold off more experienced girls who have run under 11:30 like Tousley and Howard's Elyse Borisko.

Thea LaFond, Kennedy - LaFond cannot be considered the favorite to win the long jump, triple jump, or 100m hurdles, but she should at least be top 3 in each.

Paint Branch Girls Relays - Arielle Statham's heroics in the relays at the indoor state championship meet boosted the team to the indoor state title. Statham will only be able to run one of the three relays that qualified, but whichever relay they stack will have a good chance of winning. The 3A sprints will be highly competitive.

Damascus or B-CC Girls 4x8 - Damascus and B-CC will run sub-10 and possibly sub-9:50 in the 4x800, but the indoor state champs from Western must be considered the favorites after their 9:33 performance at the Penn Relays.

Vanessa Jules or Ashley Dabney - Vanessa Jules of Paint Branch has out-jumped Ashley Dabney of Wheaton and Shaunte Boney of Largo in each of the last two indoor state championships. Boney got the best of Dabney and Jules at last year's outdoor state meet. The three will meet again along with Maya Torain of Catonsville who has jumped 5-06.

Paint Branch Girls Overall - The 3a west region champs have more weapons than they had when they won the indoor state meet in February, but I think this meet will be a fight for second place behind Western. Many 3A teams have good sprinters or good distance runners. Western has both.

Damascus Boys Relays Relays - Damascus is a slam-dunk to win the boys 4x800. The 4x400 will be considerably harder, but it is not impossible.

Rico Taylor, Wheaton - Wheaton's great hope, Rico Taylor is a two-time region champ, a Montgomery County champ, and is heading to the state championship with the best seed and a season personal best of 6-6.

Bisi Ezekoye, Kennedy - Much like the indoor state meet, all eyes will be on crowd-favorite Devon Smith of Westlake while Ezekoye does his own thing.

Malcolm Wyche, Paint Branch - Javar Cruz of Frederick won round one over Wyche in the hurdles. Round two is at the state championship.

Paint Branch Boys Relays - Taking down Westlake will be difficult, but not as difficult as taking down Devon Smith in an open event.

Marcus Willacy, Paint Branch - Willacy's 45-04.50 was the best jump of the season among 3A competitors until Marcus Smoot of La Plata jumped 45-08.25 at his regional meet. It will come down to who has the best day.

Damascus Boys Overall - I see Westlake as a slight favorite in a low scoring meet. Damascus, Tuscarora, Largo, and Urbana will be among the other top teams. An upset by Damascus would be shocking, but not outside the realm of possibility.