Last Wednesday, Richard Montgomery’s Indoor Track and Field teams competed at the Montgomery County Track and Field Championships hosted at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. This meet proved to be a great start to championship season for the Rockets, who showed off incredible amounts of young potential and caught everyone following the event by surprise.

The meet lasted about eight hours, with athletes having to leave class during fifth period in order to get on the bus and make the forty minute trip to Prince George’s County. Indoor track meets usually last this long due to the number of teams competing and the small size of the stadium, both of which contribute to the slow proceeding of events.

Our boys team, led by senior Rohann Asfaw with outstanding freshmen Garrett Suhr and Seydi Sall, managed to finish second in the county out of the 21 teams who competed and scored. Suhr and Sall, in particular, had noteworthy performances.

Sall finished first in the boys open 500 meter run with a time of 1:05.74, stunning everyone including himself. Not only is this remarkable time the fastest 500m in the county and the new school record, but it is also the fastest 500m time in the nation that has been recorded by a freshmen this year. Not to mention, Sall recorded this time on just his third ever 500 meter race.

As if one national best wasn’t enough, Suhr also set a national best for a freshman this year in the 1600 meter run when he ran a 4:25.91 to win the county. This was the tightest finish of the day, as Suhr only managed to beat Poolesville’s second place Ryan Lockett (4:25.92) by one one-hundredth of a second. Suhr also managed to finish second in the 800 meter run with a school record in the time of 1:58.69, yet another unexpected performance from the freshman phenom who made his name known this past cross country season.

Richard Montgomery’s girls team has also experienced significant improvements and has had surprising performances despite a lack of ability to compete well. Senior Xochi Cartland set her personal best in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:39.82, good enough for a 16th place finish, and junior Rosa Boehler set her PR in the 55m hurdles with a time of 10.15, placing 12th in the county. Promising freshman Michelle Campano also ran well with a 5:52.16 1600m in her first ever high school track meet. A good sign as Campano had missed the entire season up until this point injured after hurting herself at the end of an impressive cross country season, this race put her potential on clear display.

Although Richard Montgomery’s track teams are showing extreme promise for the future, they are also in outstanding position to perform well at this year’s Regional Indoor Track Championship, which will be held on February 9th at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Maryland.