Montgomery County high school track and field athletes dominated in a number of events at the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championship held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover.
Montgomery County Public Schools athletes earned state championships in nine events as records were set and freshman phenoms made their mark.
Here’s a recap of the local athletes who triumphed as the best in the state.
Walter Johnson repeats as 800-meter relay champions
The Walter Johnson girls 800-meter relay team dominated the entirety of the 2023 indoor and outdoor season, earning state titles in both and making impressive showings at national events. The team of Mackenzie Raue, Zuzana Huserova, Megan Raue and Carolyn Hultman repeated as indoor state champions with a time of 9:30.76, a dash under eight seconds faster than Bethesda-Chevy Chase High’s team, which finished second in the event.
“Winning is for them, that’s what they get. I win by watching them work so hard, and setting a goal to win,” Walter Johnson head coach Tom Martin said. “That’s what makes me feel like I won, to watch them do that.”
Last season the girls finished fifth at the Nike Indoor Nationals to earn All-American status. This season, the girls have pushed themselves farther to maintain their dominance, Martin said.
“This relay [team] has been together for three years and they run for each other,” Martin said.
The quartet consists of three seniors and Megan Raue, the lone junior. Walter Johnson has a history of being competitive in this event, a tradition the four take pride in sustaining, according to Martin.
“They feel like they are connected to that,” Martin said. “These girls are already telling me things like, ‘Who do we have now who can replace us next year?’ ” The seniors are [asking] because it’s important to them.”
Winston Churchill High freshman dominates distance
Less than two hours after Winston Churchill’s Katherine Morey won the 4A girls 1,600-meter race, she was back at the starting line.
Moments before the 3,200-meter race commenced, her coach Paul Jacobsen said “she’s about to win this one, too.”
Less than 11 minutes later, Morey crossed the finish line with a personal record of 10:49.68 to win her second indoor state championship.
“It feels really great, especially the [3,200],” said Morey, still breathing heavily minutes after her 3,200-meter triumph.
Morey’s time was more than three seconds faster than Ani Bailin of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High, who came in second and Katherine Greenwald of Walt Whitman High in Bethesda who finished third, crossing the finish line with a time of 10:58.17.
“I was just going to stay on them, but Ani was really pushing it, she did a great job,” Morey said.
In the 1,600-meter, Morey had a time of 5:03.10 to win her first state title of the day. However, she fell almost five seconds off her lofty personal goal.
“I was hoping to go all out in the mile, hopefully get the meet record. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” Morey said. “But I’m still happy.”
It’s a goal Morey has three more years to achieve. And if her performance as a freshman was a glimpse at what’s to come, observers say she may beat it multiple times by the time her high school career is over.
“It really kind of shows how strong they are,” Jacobson said of Morey’s dominance on Tuesday. “Those kinds of runners can do the intense training, day in and day out. … It is kind of rare to come back so quickly, but she’s super talented.”
Spikes sets state record
Nicholas Spikes won his first Maryland 4A 300-meter indoor championship as a sophomore, two years ago, marking the first of a potential triple crown of titles in the event. However, a leg injury kept the star from Burtonsville’s Paint Branch High School out of the event at last year’s championships.
On Tuesday, he settled for a satisfactory double. The senior re-anointed himself as the indoor champion of the event with a state record time of 34.09.
“The bounce back, I’m definitely excited about that,” Spikes said. “It’s definitely a blessing.”
After injury cost him an opportunity to compete at last year’s championships, Spikes and head coach Alvin Pridgeon devised a strength-training plan to avoid the same outcome for Spikes’ final indoor campaign. Spikes began working out in the summer, running up and down hills, and then participating in several 5K races in the fall.
“We knew this was going to be a long season. We wanted him to have the strength to endure the entire season,” Pridgeon said. “What we did, the work we put in, we can see that it’s paying off right now.”
Spikes’ time was a personal best for a flat track; however, it was nearly a full second slower than his 33.22 personal best set Feb. 11 at this year’s Millrose Games at the Armory in New York City.
When the gun sounded Tuesday, Spikes was stuck in the middle of the pack. When he changed gears in an attempt to gain the lead after the first curve, he was stuck behind Bowie High School’s Wesley Todd, who finished second with a time of 34.92 seconds.
“Usually, it would be the one move, then I’d be in front,” Spikes said. “But [Todd] was still there, he pushed me, he definitely pulled me to the [personal record].”
At around the 150-meter mark, Spikes upped his speed again, this time pushing himself to the front of the group. At that point, the senior maintained his lead until he officially secured his second state title in the event.
The adrenaline rush of winning a state championship and a personal best was temporary for Spikes.
“I was more excited with the time that I got. … Then all the tiredness hit me like a full tsunami,” he said.
Spikes’ win came in the first of four events he competed in at the championships. In addition to the 300-meter, he runs the 55-meter, as well as the 200-meter relay and 400-meter relays.
Blake High’s Cochran takes 300-meter, anchors girls 400-meter relay win
In the girls 3A 300-meter final, Brooke Cochran of James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring finished first with a time of 39.80 seconds, only 0.2 seconds shy of her personal best. She bested Kendall Hall of Long Reach High in Columbia, who finished in second place with a time of 41.38.
In addition to her individual victory, Cochran anchored the Blake girls 400-meter relay team to victory. This race was much tighter than Cochran’s individual victory. Hunter Cochran, Jaayah Jenkins, Simone Carter and Brooke Cochran finished in 4:05.93, the group’s best time of the season, finishing less than a second ahead of Tuscarora High School in Frederick.
Blake finished second in the overall girls 3A standings, losing to Northern High School, from Owings, by six points.
Wheaton High’s Daley takes girls 55-meter
Of the top-three finishers in the girls 4A 55-meter, two were seniors. Sophomore Iyanni Daley of Wheaton High School finished ahead of both, as well as the entirety of the eight-person finals, with a time of 7.08 seconds.
Richard Montgomery High’s Grace Finnegan tops MoCo-dominated girls 4A 800
The first five girls to cross the finish line in the 4A 800-meter finals were from Montgomery County. Grace Finnegan of Richard Montgomery in Rockville was victorious among them with a time of 2:17.77.
The Raue sisters from Walter Johnson finished less than a second apart to take second and third place. Megan Raue finished with a time of 2:20.18 and Mackenzie Raue finished with a time of 2:20.75. Emma Bergfalk of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring finished fourth at 2:22.57 and Finnegan’s teammate Emma Colavito scored a fifth-place finish at 2:22.83.
Springbrook High’s Moumban achieves personal record with shot put victory
Shakira Moumban only had one attempt go farther than 10 meters during Tuesday’s 4A shot put championships. It was all she needed.
The Springbrook star’s attempt achieved a personal best 11.03 meters, enough for her to beat out Felicia Siewe of Urbana High School from Ijamsville and her 10.86 meter best throw to win the state championship. Jazmin Terry of Northwest High School in Germantown ended in third place only trailing Siewe by 0.03 meters.