I like going to the county B meet to cheer on my teammates and get a glance at the depth of team's and athletes on the rise. A lot of athletes from the varsity meet come to support their teammates, help facilitate the meet, and spectate creating a really lively environment. A lot of people don't realize the amount of thrill at the "B" meet, the enthusiasm and drive of athletes in their respective events, and the friendly competition that goes on among teams. Many athletes run full strength in attempt to earn a spot at the region meet which bumps up the amount of entries allowed per an event from one (the county "A" meet) to three.

I figured in writing this article it would be suitable to go at greater length on the great performances that took place at the county "B" meet to append to the article I supposedly forced upon Sean O'Leary. Enough about me though, props to the athletes in the field events who received no credit in the last article. Not surprisingly his closing notes held the greatest significance to his entire article as the Clarksburg girls and Watkins Mill boys were surely the feature of the meet. Both teams took home team titles at the end of the day after top performances in many of the sprint and jump events. I'll take a closer look at these uprising teams and a few other top performers that the county should keep an eye for the future. Without further ado, lets to get to the spotlight on MoCo's future.

Clarksburg girls put quite the show on the sprint side. The lady Coyotes worked together to stand out in the sprint events grabbing many top six finishes throughout the day. In the 100m dash sophomore Morgan Stickler placed first while freshman Princess Gwelekai and Kierra Tongue placed 4th and 6th, respectively. In the 100m hurdles sophomore Noella Anyangwe earned 1st, senior Amanda Neff, and freshman Elisha Young placed 3rd and 6th, respectively. Neff went on to place 4th in the 300m hurdles while teammate junior Natasha Magino placed 2nd. Anyangwe went on to place 2nd in the 200m run. If that was not impressive enough, the girls combined to place 1st in the 4 by 1 and 4 by 2. Neff, who has been running since her sophomore year, gave some insight into the team's performance.

"We worked really hard up to this point," said Neff. "Even though it's not county "A's", we have trained hard mentally and physically and we all wanted a win."

"We all knew we had the skill and strentgth, we just had to go out there and put it to the test," said Stickler. "I feel that if we stay focused and motivated we will definitely go far!"

Clarksburg showed equal strength in the field events as Morgane Stickler won the long jump and placed 2nd in the triple jump. Senior Sarah Leaman won the high jump, sophomore Diane Penda 5th in the long jump, 6th in the triple, and freshman Julie James 2nd in the triple jump.

Watkins Mill boys were equally impressive winning the 4 by 1, 4 by 2, and 4 by 4 relays. Individually, senior Langston Caldwell put up impressive wins in the 100m dash (11.10) and the 200m dash (22.7) in which he managed to gap the field in both finals. Both these times are fast enough to match times on the MocoRunning Leaderboards. With that said, it is interesting to note that on some county teams, Caldwell would be their fastest 100m runner, but he just speaks to the depth in sprinters Watkins Mill has this year, as he is their cutoff on the "A" team. Freshman Quinton Littlejohn stepped up to tie four other runners for third in the 100m dash. He also went on to place 3rd in the triple jump. Senior Spencer Williams and junior Isaac Asante placed 2nd and 3rd in the 200m allowing Watkins Mill to sweep top three in the event. This says a lot about the team's future as the varsity athletes managed to secure a win earlier on Thursday. It doesn't look like the Wolverines are short of future talent and should continue to be a major contender the next several years.

Senior Spencer Williams explains, "I think that the team was able to perform well at the meet because we all have the mentality that we don't want to let each other down, and we were also extremely motivated to win after our county A team won theirs also."

On the girl's middle-distance side BCC showed strength placing 1st and 2nd in a dominating 4 by 8 relay performance. Many of the girls split under 2:35 in this relay, and majority of them are underclassmen. The relay teams led from start to finish where supporting teammates from the varsity "A" squad met them with encouragement at the finish. Freshman Carolyn Leuba, who won the open 800m, describes her experience at the meet,

"Being a freshman, I was nervous to have none of our top 800 girls competing with me since they were in counties A, but it gave me the chance to see how far I could push myself," said Leuba. "I was very happy with my performance and how the rest of my teammates competed."

She also gives a little insight into the success of the relay squads:

"I think our 4 by 8 teams really went into the race ready to compete and many of the girls, being underclassmen, were eager to do their best and finish the relays strong," said Leuba. "I believe everyone was happy with the results."

The girl's also placed 2nd the 4 by 4 relay. Sophomore Laila Shehata placed second in the 400m dash and freshman Eugenia Wilson placed 5th. Look for the BCC girls to come on strong in cross country and into the next indoor/outdoor track season.

Guy's middle-distance showed strong performances from individuals. Sophomore Scott Sheehan, who was member of the winning 4 by 8 relay, took home wins in the 1600 and 3200. Sheehan who has run 2:03 in the 800 and 4:36 in the mile felt strong in his double, and is looking forward to next cross country season.

"It was kind of hard to get motivated after being injured earlier this season," said Sheehan. "But after yesterday I do feel like I'm starting to get back where I should be.

Walter Johnson had three boys place in the top 6 in the 1600 while Winston Churchill had three in the 3200. Both these schools are known distance powerhouses and have been top contenders on the state level over the past several years. The Wildcats have won the cross country state championship the past two years, but Churchill should be a strong opponent this upcoming season as both these teams have incredible depth on the distance side.

I hope I could pass over a little bit more exhilaration and detail (rather than rambling about lucky charms) into upcoming talent displayed at the MoCo "B" meet. While many solid performances were put on by upperclassmen a ton of underclassmen talent was seen as well. It is certain many of these developing stars will continue to grow into top athletes and represent MoCo through their careers. Thanks to Devin "Sweetfeet" Moreno for the rap entertainment midway through the meet, and you are welcome Sean O'Leary.