Clarksburg and Quince Orchard track teams pose together with trophy after tying with 85 points at a long and rainy Montgomery County Championship Meet. Photo by Kevin Milsted See Poll
The MoCoRunning male athlete of the week is Elad Covaliu of Walter Johnson High School. Covaliu was voted by coaches as the James DeMoss male athlete of the meet for sweeping the 110/300m hurdle races at the county championship meet. Covaliue first set a personal best of 15.11 in the 110-meter high hurdles to win his first county title. He came back to win the 300-meter hurdles in 39.33 in rainy conditions, just missing the meet record by 0.33.
The female athlete of the week is Gwen Shaw from Wootton High School. Shaw was voted by coaches the James DeMoss female athlete of the meet for winning two individual races and contributing to two relay wins at the Montgomery County Championship Meet. She won the 100-meter high hurdles by nearly a full second in 14.56. She later clocked 45.97 to win the 300-meter hurdles by over a full second. She anchored her team to victory in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays and ultimately helped Wootton clinch the team title.
The MoCoRunning male athlete of the week is Gaston Assoua of Blake High School. Assoua swept the long and triple jump at the Katie Jenkins Invitational, setting personal best marks in both events. The LJ mark of 21-07.00 was the second best mark by a Montgomery County junior in the last five year. It was also a precursor to his county championship victory in 21-10.50.
The female athlete of the week is Sierra Isaac from Quince Orchard High School. Isaac won the triple jump and took over the county lead with a personal best mark of 37-07.75 at the Nike Spring Invitational. It was the fourth best mark by a MoCo athlete in the last five years. She also placed second in the high jump with a mark of 5-02, matching the top mark among MCPS athletes this year, and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 49.85.
The Quince Orchard and Clarksburg boys tied with 85 points each. There were no hard feelings as the two teams posed together with the team trophy. The Wootton girls had a near-perfect day to take home the team title with 86 points. Wootton's Gwen Shaw was voted the James DeMoss female athlete of the meet for sweeping the hurdle races and anchoring the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Walter Johnson's Elad Covaliu was named the James DeMoss male athlete of the meet for winning the 110/300-meter hurdles in 15.11/39.33. The only meet record of the day came from Clarksburg's Claudia Ababio who recorded a mark of 40 feet in the shot put in the rain, something no MoCo athlete had done rain or shine since Ashley Fauntleroy of Paint Branch threw 40-06 indoors in 2004 (corrected). If you had not heard, it rained A LOT!
Elad Covaliu, 110/300m Hurdle Champ
Coaches Pelkey and Mathias reading scores from computer
Fans, coaches, and athletes agree. The 2012 MoCo Outdoor Championship is going to be a highly competitive showdown between the Clarksburg and Quince Orchard boys and the Northwest and Wootton girls. With the way these coaches are known to manipulate their "pieces," we may not see "checkmate" until the 4x400 relays.
Famous for four years as "the girl with the American flag bandana," Wootton's Casey Dowling let her hair down to sign with the University of New Mexico. Despite off-and-on injuries in high school, Dowling has been one of the best jumpers/sprinters in MoCo history with a personal best long jump of 18-03.50 and a 200-meter dash time of 25.51.
Wootton's Madeline Rico has signed to compete for Mount St. Mary's University. Rico has a 3200-meter PR of 11:41.75 and finished 9th in this year's XC state championship.
Viking Invitational Videos
Brittney Wade's 2:12.26 800m was set up perfectly by 4A rival Ashley Hayes from Severna Park at Saturday's Viking Invitational. Conditions were warm and clear and Wade was relatively fresh having only run on the (winning) 4x800 relay hours earlier. Hayes set the pace, but Wade had the strongest kick. The mark broke Leslie Morrison's 5-year old meet record by nearly 5 full seconds. She also leaped over Leslie Morrison and Britt Eckerstrom on Mocorunning's "since 2006" leaderboard.
Big performances at Darius Ray Invitational: Good Counsel's Kyle Martin clocks 14.34/38.86 in hurdle race - best all-time on Mocorunning "since 2006" leaderboard; Northwest's Jalen Walker 11.04/22.04 leads Montgomery County this year and best all-time for Mocorunning freshman
Remembering Darius Ray
MoCo Girls Outdoor Track Divisions
Wootton
5-0
B-CC
3-2
Walter Johnson
3-1-1
Churchill
2-2-1
Whitman
1-4
Gaithersburg
0-5
Northwest
6-0
Clarksburg
5-1
Quince Orchard
4-2
Poolesville
3-3
Watkins Mill
2-3
Damascus
1-5
Seneca Valley
0-6
R. Montgomery
5-0
Sherwood
4-1
Paint Branch
3-2
Blake
2-3
Magruder
1-4
Springbrook
0-5
Blair
5-0
Kennedy
4-1
Northwood
3-2
Einstein
2-3
Rockville
1-4
Wheaton
0-5
MoCo Boys Outdoor Track Divisions
Gaithersburg
5-0
Walter Johnson
3-2
Wootton
3-2
Churchill
3-2
B-CC
1-4
Whitman
0-5
Clarksburg
6-0
Quince Orchard
5-1
Watkins Mill
4-2
Northwest
3-3
Poolesville
2-4
Seneca Valley
1-5
Damascus
0-6
R. Montgomery
5-0
Paint Branch
4-1
Magruder
3-2
Sherwood
2-3
Springbrook
1-4
Blake
0-5
Einstein
5-0
Kennedy
4-1
Blair
3-2
Rockville
2-3
Wheaton
1-4
Northwood
0-5
Einstein, Northwood, Blair Recap Einstein boys and Blair girls claim Division IV titles. Einstein sprints are coming together, but dropped baton spoiled what could have been a fast 4x100.
1996 Invitation - In 1996, Greg Dunston sent out an invitation for people to come out to the Woodward Relays, partly because it would be Sally Glynn's final Woodward Relays. The Good Counsel girls set the still-standing SMR record at 4:14.64. 1996 Results
2008 Blair 4x200 video - The Woodward Relays 4x200 record had stood for 23 years when the Blair boys obliterated that record by two seconds in 1:27.59. Blair later won the state title in 1:27.61, but the Woodward Relays time held up as the fastest of the year and fastest of the decade by a Montgomery County team
2010 4x800 Video - Georgetown Prep and Walter Johnson met head-to-head for the first time since the two teams finished first and second respectively at the National Scholastic Indoor Championship. GP broke the 18 year old meet record by four seconds in 7:51.82 with a 1:51 anchor leg by Joseph Woiwode. GP later broke the meet record in the 4x4 in 3:20.29 for good measure
2010 Greg Dunston Video Interview - Coach Dunston recalls memories of Sally Glynn come-from-behinds and some of the rainier years at the Woodward Relays
1984 Sentinel Article - The 12th Woodward Relays Meet was a rainy one, but in Dunston's words "The hard core track teams don't leave..." This article touches on the origins of the Woodward Relays and the work involved in setting up the meet year after year, whether the weather cooperates or not.
30th Woodward Relays Results 2002 - Highlights from the 30th running of the Woodward Relays include blazing 4x100's from Gaithersburg - 48.91 girls and 42.60 boys. Both times stand as meet records today
1977 Woodward Relays Results - These results are difficult to read because they were scanned from 35 year old paper with faded ink, but 1977 is significant for a few reasons. It was the fifth anniversary of the Woodward Relays and the first year that the meet included female athletes. While all of the girls records set that day have long since been broken, three of the boys records from 1977 still remain to this day: the sprint medley 3:31.6, 3-Man shot put relay 159-04.25 (53-01 avg), and 3-Man discus relay 434-03.50 (144-09 avg)
2004 Gazette Article - "Like father, like daughter," dives into the relationship between Greg Dunston and Jill Milla as coach-athlete in high school and later as cross town "rival" coaches.
1997 Meet Program - 1997 marked the 25th anniversary of the Woodward Relays, at that time a monumental achievement for the meet creator Greg Dunston. Check out the 1997 meet program with tribute to Dunston.
Incredible two-camera coverage by Wootton crew, fantastic spectator attendance and atmosphere for a dual meet!
Cougar Relays 2012
Boys Recap Josh Trzeciak breaks out with 4:18.8 mile, 4:21 1600m split after taking winter off. Elad Covaliu clocks fastest MoCo hurdle time since 2005.
Girls Recap Northwest wins with meet records in almost every race on the track. Action peaks with epic 4x400 showdown between Wootton and Northwest.
Gaithersburg's Kaifa Boyce (1st LJ, TJ, 2nd 110HH) and WJ's Laura Dally (1st 100HH, 300IH, TJ, 4x2) voted performers of the meet Clarksburg boys and Richard Montgomery girls won team titles Paul Joseph 22.23 200m, Elad Covaliu 15.39, 39.59 hurdles, Josh Ellis 4:20.68 1600m Claudia Ababio 36-02.50 SP, WJ newcomer Renee Hart 12.60 100m, 24.8 4x2 split
Former Richard Montgomery athlete Tyler Jackson won the NCAA DIII National Title in the 60-meter hurdles with a clutch personal best time of 7.93. As a high school junior, Jackson surprised the field to win the 55-meter hurdle state title in 7.71. As a senior he dropped his PR down to 7.57 and finished second at the state meet. He missed most of his senior outdoor campaign due to injury, but only after he ran 14.4h and 38.9h in the 110/300-meter hurdles in a dual meet. Perhaps underrated due to the injury, MoCo coaches voted Jackson to MoCoRunning's Second Team All-Decade.
At the NCAA Division I Championships, former Whitman runner Morgane Gay qualified for the mile finals with the second fastest time of 4:40.45 and finished fifth in the finals with a time of 4:40.62 (2:27, 2:13 800m splits). Former Northwest runner Olivia Ekpone finished 13th in the 200m with a time of 23.68.
Josh Ellis of Walter Johnson HS has signed to compete for Appalachian State University. Ellis won the Virginia Tech Invite mile in a personal best 4:20 this winter and has also won an 800-meter county title. App State is a division I school in Boone, North Carolina where former Walter Johnson runners Chris Moen and Brian Graves have had successful college careers.
Cross country state champion Anna Ryba from Whitman will run for DIII Williams College. 55-meter hurdle county champion Darius Lewis has committed to West Virginia Wesleyan for football and Clarksburg's Barry Solomon has committed to Seton Hill for football and will likely also run track.
Seniors and their family members should email webmaster@mocorunning.com to be added to Mocorunning's list
Wootton's Grace Corbett has committed to compete for Vanderbilt University in track and field. Corbett has personal best times of 2:16.72, 5:04.60, and helped Wootton break the 4x800 relay state record in 2010.
February 1 was NLI Signing Day. Elad Covaliu of Walter Johnson is busy on the wrestling mat this winter with a 31-0 record and #1 state ranking, but we expect to see him this outdoor season as the top county returner in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 40.08. Elad signed to Holy Cross to play football but plans to also compete in track.
Rachel Watkins will graduate from Tuscarora High School but only after cementing her place on the Montgomery County all-time leaderboards as a member of the Magruder track team. Watkins clocked personal best times of 7.24, 12.24, 25.01 and helped Magruder break county meet records in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. She will compete for James Madison University.
As previously announced, India Knight of Northwest HS (pictured above) has signed to compete for Drake University in Des Moines Iowa.
Several of MoCo's top track stars have announced their football commitments through MoCoFootball.com
- Seniors and their family members should email webmaster@mocorunning.com to be added to Mocorunning's list.
