Wise junior Jordan Mozie dominated the mid-distance events at Saturday's Ed Bowie Invitational. We take a look back at all of the notable performances from the second full week of indoor track action in Maryland! (Photo by Brandon Miles)
December 9: MCPS/AACPS Meet #2
Paint Branch senior Alonzo McBryde became the first (and still only) boy to break 6.50 in the 55 meter dash this season. As a freshman in 2017 McBryde finished fifth in the 100 meter dash at the 4A outdoor state meet and could be a big addition for a Paint Branch team that won last year's indoor team title.
There's a new name in the Maryland state high jump scene. Leroy Neal has debuted for Richard Montgomery with back-to-back wins in the high jump at both of the first two MCPS/AACPS meets, clearing 6'4 on Monday. Huntingtown's Anthony Smith (6'8) is the only other boy so far this year to have cleared 6'4 so far this winter.
The runner-up in the high jump, Northwest senior Bryce Middleton, also set a big personal best in the triple jump. His 45'0 mark currently leads the state and is already over a foot and a half better than his personal best from last spring. He also cleared 6'2 in the high jump for the first time.
Diamond Alexander might be one of the breakout sprinters of the indoor season already. She won Monday's 55 meter dash by over a tenth of a second, and her 7.27 time was tied for the the MD #1 mark until Saturday. Alexander had qualified for the state meet in the 100 meter dash last spring but could be in the process of taking the next step toward potential state title contender this winter.
Quince Orchard senior Kyra Lyles has already flashed her range this season, becoming the first girl to go under 41 seconds in the 300 on Monday and then finishing second in the 800. She currently ranks second in the state in the 300, fourth in the 500 and seventh in the 800.
Another Northwest senior jumper opened their season with a big personal best. Alice Adarkwa cleared 5'4 for the first time in her career to win the high jump on Monday. Adarkwa and Wheaton's Madison Depry are the only girls who have cleared 5'4 so far this year.
December 10: HoCo Meet #1
The Reservoir boys flashed their sprinting depth at the first Howard County league meet on Tuesday by dominating the 55 meter dash. Seniors Jalen Jasmin, Ayomide Agbayewa and Darius Ellerbe all ran between 6.60 and 6.61 while easily sweeping the top three spots. All three currently rank among the top seven in the 3A classification. Jasmin also won the long jump (22'1.50) and is currently the state leader by over a foot.
Last year Hammond's Loick Amouzou finished second at the 2A indoor and outdoor state meets in all three hurdle events. Could this be the breakout season for the senior hurdler? He kicked off his season with a state-leading 7.72 performance on Tuesday, a time he topped just twice all of last indoor season.
If Tuesday is any indication then the Howard boys will likely rack up a ton of points in the shot put this year. Senior Collin Greene is one of just three boys throwers to have thrown over 50 feet so far this winter, and senior Christopher Joseph was not far behind. Joseph's 48'9 throw on Tuesday was a personal best by nearly two feet and places him fifth on the current state leaderboard.
The River Hill girls won last year's 2A East indoor title in the 4x200 relay but kicked off the 2020 season by already running faster than they did last winter. Their 1:47.11 time was not only easily the fastest of the day on Tuesday but it still leads all of Maryland heading into the third week of action.
Last winter Atholton's Morgan Nasir made the successful leap into the long jump, winning the county title (and also scoring at the state meet in the event during the spring). Nasir began her junior indoor season with another win in the long jump, wasting no time in setting a personal best of 17'7.50. Her mark is still currently the MD #1 performance.
Although she finished fourth in the pole vault at last year's 3A indoor state meet, it wasn't until May that Atholton's Madison Garrigus cleared 10 feet in the event. Last year's outdoor state runner-up kicked off this indoor season by clearing 10 feet in the vault on Tuesday, making her one of just four girls in the state who have cleared that mark in the early going.
Owings Mills senior Tyler Dixon won both the 500 and 800 meter runs at the Baltimore Armory on Tuesday. His time in the 500 meter dash was especially notable, as his 1:12.40 mark was nearly identical to the 2A 500 meter auto advancement time at the Armory (1:12.34). Dixon qualified for the state meet in the 800 last year and could be one of the better mid-distance runners in Baltimore County this year.
Western Tech senior Nickolas Johnson was easily the top thrower at the Armory on Tuesday, as his 45'4.50 mark was a foot and a half indoor personal best. That distance would have been the fifth-best 1A mark in the state a year ago.
After competing sparingly during the cross country season, Sparrows Point junior Macy Gerbes won both the 1600 and 3200 on Tuesday. The 1600 was a battle between two county standouts, Gerbes and Lentz, looking for bounceback track seasons after missing most of the fall. Lentz ran 2:21/5:21/11:34 last spring as a freshman for Hereford.
Hereford is poised to dominate the girls pole vault this winter. Courtney Butz and Elizabeth Schriver both cleared 11'0 at Tuesday's county meet, and along with junior Vita Shats could form one of the top trios in the state in any event and keep Hereford in the running for team titles throughout the winter.
December 11: SMAC League Meet #2
Chopticon junior Dylan McMahan has picked up right where he left off last season when he won the indoor and outdoor 3A state titles in the 800. McMahan has won both the 500 and 800 meters at both SMAC meets this year, and his 1:07.47 time in the 500 from Wednesday was the MD #1 mark until Saturday's Ed Bowie Invitational.
McMahan's teammate, Zachary Wedding, has been equally dominant in the distance events so far this indoor season. Wedding has won the 3200 at each of the first two conference meets, setting a new personal best (9:47.53) at Wednesday's race. It's the sixth-fastest time in the state, and fastest by a 3A runner.
Great Mills' Durrell Brooks had a breakout spring season in the 110 meter hurdles and it appears that success has translated back over to the 55 meter hurdles this winter. He already has four races well faster than his previous personal best of 8.50 under his belt, including a 7.91 performance from the first conference meet that ranks seventh in Maryland.
St. Charles senior Rainus Daramola has been terrific in the horizontal jumps so far this season, especially in the triple jump. His 44'10.75 performance on Wednesday ranks second-best in the state, and while the horizontal jumps aren't contested at the indoor state meet, his success bodes well for the upcoming outdoor season.
Just two weeks into the season we may have a star freshman emerging from Thomas Stone. Takiya Henson has won both of her races so far this year (300 meter dash from the first conference meet and 500 meter dash from Wednesday's meet). Her times in both events lead all freshmen in the state and sit among the top 15 across all grades.
Speaking of star freshmen, Kristen Prince certainly fit the description last year when she finished second at the 2A outdoor state meet in the 3200. After her first cross country season she has picked up right where she left off, beating defending 3A state champion Hannah Mack in the 3200 on Wednesday. Her 11:42 time is currently the fifth fastest in the state.
Meanwhile the Northern girls continued to do what they have done so well for many years: score points in the distance events. Along with Mack's second-place finish in the 3200 and Oakley Olson's season-opening win the 1600, the Patriots also set the MD #1 mark in the 4x800 (10:07.76).
Patterson sprinters Tony Wilson and Garland Hurt made early-season statements in the 55 meter dash on Wednesday at the Baltimore Armory. Wilson ran 6.50 - the second-fastest time in Maryland so far - and will likely be a contender in the event at the 2A state meet this winter.
Snow Hill senior Charles Townsend continues to show off the speed in the 55 meter dash this season. He has gone under 6.60 in each of his past three 55 meter races dating back to his state-title-winning race last year, and his 6.53 time from Wednesday's meet currently ranks fourth in the state.
The Kent Island duo of Finn Walsh and Isaiah Schulties figure to rack up plenty of points for the Bucs this year in the Bayside Conference. Schulties won both the 500 and 800 on Wednesday while Walsh went under 10 minutes in the 3200 indoors for the first time. They currently rank among the top two on the 2A leaderboard in each event.
Both Crisfield's Kyle Noll and Easton's Blake Walton won state titles in the 300 meter hurdles last May, and both are back in top form to begin their senior indoor seasons. They both ran 7.95 in the 55 meter hurdles on Wednesday, both tied for tenth on the current state leaderboard.
North Caroline's Jordan Figueroa finished 11th at both the indoor and outdoor state meets last year in the pole vault, only clearing 12 feet for the first time at the outdoor state meet. That mark is now a thing of the past for the senior, as he won Wednesday's pole vault competition with a new personal best of 13 feet. Figueroa is one of six boys in the state to have cleared the mark so far this indoor season.
Wicomico senior Aaliyah Harris is looking like a potential 2A state title contender in the 55 meter dash in just her first indoor season (although she did finish sixth in the 100 meter dash last spring). Harris has won the event at each of the first two Bayside conference meets of this indoor season, and her 7.39 time from the first on December 5 is a MD #7 time and second among 2A runners behind only Frederick Douglass-PG's Victoya Smith.
The Kent Island girls made an early-season statement in the 4x800 on Wednesday, running 10:24 in a runaway victory. Not only is it 20 seconds faster than any other 2A team has run so far this indoor season, but it's the third-fastest time in the entire state.
December 13: Dwight Scott Invitational
The Century boys went 1-2 in the 1600 led by senior Tyler Dregely. More a mid-distance, 400/800 specialist who also ran 1:07.95 (MD #3) earlier this season, it was his debut in the event, and led to 4:30 (MD #6) performance. Junior Hayden Hebert was right behind him at 4:34, and the two currently own the top 2A times in the 1600.
Friday's meet was perhaps the best collection of pole vault talent the state will see until the state meet in February. Of the six boys that have currently cleared 13 feet in the event, five competed on Friday, with Brunswick's Jackson Tuomey (14'6) emerging victorious and setting a big personal best in the process. Linganore's Carter Holsinger (second, 14'0), Thomas Johnson's Peter Kamanu (third, 13'0) and South Carroll's Peyton Thomas (fourth, 13'0) and Patrick Tunkel (fifth, 13'0) rounded out the star-studded field.
There was plenty of young talent on the track in the girls distances races at Hagerstown Community College on Friday. Middletown's Erin McQuitty and Campbell Caldwell went 1-2 in the 1600, running the second- and third-fastest 2A times of the season in the process. The 3200 was also a fantastic race, eventually going to Manchester Valley sophomore Rubie Goffena who became the first girl in the state this winter to break 11:30, and Broadneck's Anna Janke (second, MD #3 11:34.67) and McQuitty (third, MD #4 11:34.70) followed along.
The top two hurdlers at Friday's MIAA league meet also both happened to be the top two sophomore hurdlers in the state. Gilman's JB Brooks (7.92) and Calvert Hall's Thomas Smith (7.94) are currently the only two sophomores in the state who have broken the 8-second barrier in the hurdles, and they both rank among the top nine on the current state leaderboard.
Pallotti's Carl Hicks, last year's MIAA runner-up in the 300 and 200 and champion in the 400 wasted no time in setting a new 300 meter personal best this year. His 35.65 effort on Friday was just off the top time in the state owned by Paint Branch senior Chukwudmi Osuji, meaning his time is easily the fastest among juniors so far this year.
Spalding seniors Henry Hardart and Ryan Miller won the 800 and 1600 on Friday, respectively, to kick off their indoor seasons. Hardart is one of just three Maryland boys to have broken two minutes in the 800 so far this year, and Miller is one of five boys to have run under 4:30 in the 1600.
The McDonogh boys closed out the meet with the fastest 4x400 the state has seen so far this winter. Their 3:32.92 time was almost three seconds faster than any other team in the race and nearly two seconds faster than any other team in the state has currently run.
The Roland Park Country girls are the first private school team in the state to have run under 1:50 in the 4x200 relay this season. They cut it just about as close as they could have, running 1:49.99 in the final heat of Friday's meet - a time that is also currently good for a MD #7 ranking.
In fact, all three of the girls relay races at Friday's meets brought some fast times and exciting finishes. In the 4x400, the Spalding girls erased a three-and-a-half second gap heading onto the final leg and ran down Maryvale Prep to win a thriller, 4:22.62 to 4:22.76 (currently MD #9 and #10, respectively). In the 4x800, it was Maryvale Prep's turn to try and run down McDonogh, an effort that came up just short. The two teams ran 10:25.03 and 10:27.30, the fourth- and fifth-fastest times in the state thus far.
CCBC-Essex Knights Invitational
Even on the slow CCBC-Essex track, Dulaney freshman Tyler Dailey showed that he may be a mid-distance force this season in the 500 meter dash. His 1:10.88 time was easily the fastest of the day, as well as by far the fastest freshman time in the event this year.
The Towson shot put senior duo of Cory Gray and Damone Moore dominated Friday's meet and set them up as two of the top throwers in the entire state going forward this winter. Their performances rank as MD #9 and #10 performances in the shot put so far this year, and second- and third-best in 3A behind state leader Kenneth King.
The Harford Tech girls have built some sprint depth behind star junior Caitlynn Bobb, as the Cobras went 1-2 in the 55 and 300. Bobb herself won both the 55 and 500 meter dashes; her 500 meter dash performance was a truly terrific performance, as she clocked a MD #6, 1:20.18 time at CCBC-Essex (each of the five faster performances have been run at the PG Sportsplex).
Coming off her best cross country season, C. Milton Wright senior Lindsay Perry is back on the track where she won her only state title in last year's 3A indoor 800 meter run. She kicked off her senior season by winning both the 800 and 1600 at Friday's meet; her 5:28.24 time in the 1600 is currently the fifth-best in Maryland.
Elkton's Asia Travers was briefly one of just two in the state to have thrown 37-plus feet in the shot put after winning Friday's meet with a 37'2 effort. That mark was recently bumped down to fourth on the state leaderboard's after Saturday's Ed Bowie Invitational, but still easily leads all 2A girls.
December 14: Ed Bowie Invitational
Full recap coming soon!