No results were recorded at the first MCPS meet because it was a scrimmage and took place before the official first day of competition for winter sports. Athletes were also not allowed to compete in full uniforms, but most athletes were wearing something that identified which school they attended. It was an abbreviated practice meet with no relays and no 3200. Today was also an SAT day which explained the absence of many athletes.

I missed the 55's, 55 hurdles, and most of the field events, so I can use some help if anyone knows the fastest times and best marks. I also didn't pay much attention after the first or second heat of the other events, so if fast times came out of later heats, feel free to use the comments section politely.

The Northwest girls picked up right where they left off last year. Britt Eckerstrom was outstanding in winning the 500 in 1:17 and the 800 in the very next event in 2:21. India Knight was her closest competition in the 800 with a time around 2:30. Olivia Ekpone raced the 500 in a separate heat and won by half a lap in 1:19. Ekpone and Knight ran times of 40 and 42 in the 300, which were among the fastest of the day if not the two fastest.

Alexandra Phillips from Whitman won the faster section of the girls 1600 with a time of 5:32. She was followed closely by Ava Farrell from B-CC. Whitman's two other top cross country runners, Anna Ryba and Caroline Guiot, are not doing indoor track.

The Richard Montgomery boys came away with a couple wins including a 500 victory by David Hamilton in about 1:08. Andrew Kyeremeh from Northwest chased after him but fell short in about 1:10.

Sam Martin from Richard Montgomery won the 800 and 1600, but Jacob Cantor surprised many people with strong performances. First Martin ran around 4:31 to win the 1600. Cantor ran around 4:36. Evan Laratta and Chris Miller were in a close race for third place. Later Martin ran 2:02 to win the 800. Cantor followed him in second place in about 2:04. Chris Miller ran a pretty quick time around 2:05 in a separate heat.

I clocked a few boys at about 37 seconds in the 300 including Donito Smith of Walter Johnson in the first heat and Micah Phillips-Spencer from Churchill in another heat. Phillips-Spencer has competition at his own school this year as Churchill has a new stud sprinter named Remy Smith who ran about a 6.5 in the 55.

Devin Haywood was a standout sprinter as a freshman for QO and returns this year after a year off from track. QO's runningback Mark Green is also out for the track team this year.

Paul Akyen from Clarksburg and Mamadou Doukoure from Gaithersburg were the last two standing in the high jump. Both cleared 6 feet. Gaithersburg has at least three, maybe four guys who could be over 6 feet this season including defending high jump state champ Zach Fetters who was competing at the Crab Bowl all-star game today.

Virginia Owusu-Mainoo of Seneca Valley and Rachel Porzel of Blake were the two strongest throwers. Anna Ucheomumu was also among the better throwers and triple jumpers. The whole Ucheomumu family (siblings of Bisi Ezekoye) transferred from Kennedy to Einstein this year, but Anna is the only one competing for now.

The big coaching transfer this season is long time Damascus Coach Robert Youngblood is now assisting at Kennedy along with Kevin Monroe. With the help of Youngblood and the return of David Guwani, Monroe believes Kennedy will be more competitive in the middle distance than they have been for a long time.

Late Edit: Some additional sprint times sent in by a parent had Thea LaFond at 8.4 in the 55 hurdles with the next closest around 8.9. In the girls 55-dash, the parent timed Magruder freshman Bethany White at 7.23 and Wootton sophomore Gwen Shaw at 7.38.