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The two day meet format continued to produce many new entries into the county championship meet record book, but 2026 was not quite as lucrative at 2025. There were 170 new entries added to the record book in 2026 compared to 189 new entries after last year's county meet. There were 60 top-25 performances in 2026 compared to 72 top-25 performances in 2025. Cooler weather in the low 70s and a fair headwind on day two could have been a contributing factor.
Team Tidbits
It was the first outdoor Montgomery County team titles ever for the Montgomery Blair girls and Sherwood boys. This continues a trend of first-time team champions in the 2020s. Four out of five boys team champions in the 2020s were first-time outdoor team champions: Walter Johnson 2022, Seneca Valley 2023, Paint Branch 2024, and Sherwood 2026. All three schools that won girls outdoor team titles in the 2020s were first-time team champions, but Springbrook and Blake each won two titles: Blake 2022 & 2024, Springbrook 2023 & 2025, Blair 2026. The girls team champion plaque has only been displayed in Silver Spring in the 2020s.
The Montgomery Blair girls' previous best finish was second place in 1980. The Sherwood boys' previous best finish was third place last year.
The Blair girls scored the most points the school ever had at the outdoor county championship meet: 84. Three boys teams scored the most points their school ever had at the outdoor county championship meet: Sherwood 90.5, Churchill 86, and B-CC 75. B-CC's fourth place finish was the highest ever by a B-CC boys team.
The Northwest boys and girls teams maintained active streaks of now 16 consecutive meets finishing in the top ten at the outdoor county meet. Only the Paint Branch boys team comes close with 13 consecutive meets finishing in the top ten.
The B-CC, Blake, and Poolesville boys broke into the top ten at the outdoor county meet for the first time since 2018. The Poolesville girls broke into the top ten for the first time since 2017.
All-Time Performances
Five meet records were broken in 2026.
As she did indoors, Funmilola Ayoku of Springbrook became the first athlete to win six events at the outdoor Montgomery County Championship due to MPSSAA rule changes this year. Unlike indoors, she demolished two outdoor meet records. The girls long jump meet record was the oldest girls meet record still standing: 18-07.75 since 1987. Ayoku jumped 19-04.50. She also ran 42.56 in the 300-meter hurdles which broke the 2015 meet record by 1.5 seconds. Ayoku won the triple jump in 37-02 (#21 in meet history), 100-meter hurdles in 14.58 (#11 in meet history), and won the high jump in 5-02 (tied #28 in meet history). She contributed to the winning 4x200-meter relay (1:42.66, #16 in meet history). She was voted the James DeMoss female athlete of the meet. The long jump mark by itself is one of the strongest meet records, and the totality of her six victories and two meet records puts Lola Ayoku in the conversation as one of the greatest performers in meet history.
Brynn Congdon of Poolesville broke the pole vault meet record by one inch with a mark of 11-01.00. The girls pole vault meet record has been reset three times in the last five years.
Teagan Bandholz won the shot put and discus, breaking the discus meet record for the second consecutive year. The discus mark of 138-05.00 added a foot-and-a-half to last year's meet record, which was already one of the most dominant meet records when considering the distance between the record and next best competitor. The shot put mark of 41-05.50 was #2 in meet history.
Last but certainly not least, Arthur Wester of Clarksburg High School launched the discus 168-feet and seven inches on his first throw. The old record of 167-04 had stood since 2009 which was the last time a male thrower won the James DeMoss award. Unforunately, Wester's 48-03.25 mark in the shot put was well-short of his personal best while Jacob Breitstein of Churchill High School recorded a winning shot put mark of 51-06.75. Interestingly, five of the top six discus marks in meet history are from different decades with the 80's, 90's and early 00's represented in the top four performances behind Wester's new meet record.
Near misses: Andrew Pami of Winston Churchill High School jumped 23-01.75 in the long jump which was within an inch of the meet record of 23-02.50. Keegan Slonski of Poolesville was half a second off the meet record in the 300-meter hurdles (38.76), and the Montgomery Blair girls were less than three seconds off the meet record in the 4x800-meter relay (9:21.52).
James DeMoss, Multi-Event Winner, and Repeat Champions
Candidates for the boys DeMoss Award could have been the aforementioned Wester, Pami, and Slonski. It could have been versatile Springbrook athletes Etornam Agbonyitor and Darly Philogene, but coaches voted for a sophomore distance runner who put it all on the line for the winning Sherwood boys team. Dimitrios Rementelas ran 1:55.41 in the 800m (#14 in meet history), 4:18.31 in the 1600m (#12 in meet history), 9:21.66 in the 3200m (#4 in meet history), and contributed to the winning 4x800-meter relay (7:54.31, #5 in meet history). Two sophomore boys have won the James DeMoss award previously: sprinter Nicholas Spikes in 2022 and distance runner Chris Moen in 2006.
Jailynn Davis of Gaithersburg High School won the 100m and 200m in 11.95 (#9 in meet history) and 25.20, respectively, and contributed to the winning 4x100-meter relay (50.04). Gaithersburg remains the winningest school in meet history in the girls 100-meter and 4x100-meter with 11 all-time wins and 17 all-time wins, respectively.
Teagan Bandholz of Poolesville joins an elite club of athletes to win three outdoor titles in a single event. Bandholz mirrors the path of Quince Orchard's Ruth Kura who twice broke the discus meet record and won three consecutive discus county titles from 1996 to 1998.
Back-to-back event champions included Shiloh Bryant-Serrano of Paint Branch in the 110-meter hurdles, Bakari Taylor of Winston Churchill in the high jump, and Arthur Wester of Clarksburg in the discus. Repeat relay winners included Blair in the girls 4x800m relay, Gaithersburg in the girls 4x100m relay, and Winston Churchill in the boys 4x200m relay.
New Top 25 in Meet History
BOYS New Top 25 Performances in Meet History, Sorted by Event
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Event New Rank Name School Result
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100m 13 Karim Alexander Sherwood 10.83
400m 18 Etornam Agbonyitor Springbrook 49.22
400m 23 Darly Philogene Springbrook 49.25
800m 4 Darly Philogene Springbrook 1:53.67
800m 7 Benjamin Burckle Montgomery Blair 1:54.49
800m 9 Jack Fiening Walter Johnson 1:54.85
800m 14 Dimitrios Rementelas Sherwood 1:55.41
1600m 9 Benjamin Burckle Montgomery Blair 4:17.46
1600m 12 Dimitrios Rementelas Sherwood 4:18.31
1600m 22 Tobin Connelly Bethesda Chevy Chase 4:20.32
3200m 4 Dimitrios Rementelas Sherwood 9:21.66
3200m 6 Michael Habib Bethesda Chevy Chase 9:22.52
3200m 10 Santiago Gutierrez Winston Churchill 9:27.64
3200m 21 Donovan Hicks Bethesda Chevy Chase 9:30.68
110m Hurdles 14 Shiloh Bryant-Serrano Paint Branch 14.71
300m Hurdles 3 Keegan Slonski Poolesville 38.76
300m Hurdles 17 Dominick Malone Clarksburg 39.49
4x100m 7 Sherwood 42.86
4x100m 16 Montgomery Blair 43.05
4x100m 23 Winston Churchill 43.34
4x200m 5 Winston Churchill 1:28.53
4x200m 7 Montgomery Blair 1:28.76
4x200m 8 Damascus 1:28.83
4x200m 20 Northwood 1:29.78
4x800m 5 Sherwood 7:54.31
4x800m 6 Montgomery Blair 7:54.46
4x800m 8 Bethesda Chevy Chase 7:56.03
High Jump 13 Bakari Taylor Winston Churchill 6-04.00
High Jump 13 Keegan Slonski Poolesville 6-04.00
Long Jump 2 Andrew Pami Winston Churchill 23-01.75
Long Jump 18 Aiah Mbayo Bethesda Chevy Chase 22-02.25
Triple Jump 25 Brendan Moise James H. Blake 45-01.50
Shot Put 21 Jacob Breitstein Winston Churchill 51-06.75
Discus 1 Arthur Wester Clarksburg 168-07.00
Pole Vault 9 Isaac Evans Seneca Valley 12-06.00
GIRLS New Top 25 Performances in Meet History, Sorted by Event
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Event New Rank Name School Result
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100m 8 Jailynn Davis Gaithersburg 11.95
800m 15 Josie Barrer Winston Churchill 2:17.11
1600m 16 Clare Saboe Montgomery Blair 5:02.64
1600m 18 Eleanor Finnegan Thomas S. Wootton 5:02.93
3200m 4 Audrey Wychulis Northwest 10:44.86
3200m 5 Eleanor Finngan Thomas S. Wootton 10:46.27
3200m 7 Alexia Ladstaetter Bethesda Chevy Chase 10:47.55
3200m 13 Katherine Morey Winston Churchill 10:52.67
100m Hurdles 11 Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook 14.58
300m Hurdles 1 Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook 42.56
4x200m 16 Springbrook 1:42.66
4x400m 7 Montgomery Blair 3:59.33
4x400m 15 James H. Blake 4:00.68
4x800m 4 Montgomery Blair 9:21.52
Long Jump 1 Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook 19-04.50
Long Jump 7 Fabiola Lawani Seneca Valley 18-03.50
Long Jump 24 Gabrielle Badoo Seneca Valley 17-07.75
Triple Jump 21 Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook 37-02.00
Shot Put 2 Teagan Bandholz Poolesville 41-05.50
Discus 1 Teagan Bandholz Poolesville 138-05.00
Discus 9 Naa Cleland Clarksburg 120-01.00
Pole Vault 1 Brynn Congdon Poolesville 11-01.00
Pole Vault 8 Aurora Della-Giacoma Montgomery Blair 9-06.00
Pole Vault 14 Emily Wychulis Northwest 9-00.00
Pole Vault 20 Julianni Wyche James H. Blake 8-06.00
New Event Winners
The athletes and relays listed here were the first from their school to win the respective event at the MCPS Championship Meet.
First Time Event Champions From Their School
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Name School Event Won
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Keegan Slonski Poolesville Boys 300m Hurdles
Brendan Moise James H. Blake Boys Triple Jump
Sherwood Boys 4x100m Relay
Sherwood Boys 4x800m Relay
Funmilola Ayoku Springbrook Girls 100m Hurdles
Teagan Bandholz Poolesville Girls Shot Put |
