`She brings a sense of confidence to our team'

She hadn’t been running track since her freshman year when she buzzed through the competition. So when B-CC senior Alex Doll stepped on the track Wednesday at the Montgomery County Developmental Meet at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex, her teammates, competitors and even other coaches looked up.

B-CC Coach Chad Young talked to her for a moment. “I told her not to set expectations too high, to see how she felt, to just strive to be competitive,” he said.

He didn’t have to be concerned. Doll, a standout soccer player, led the 4 x 800 relay, running it in 2 minutes 25 seconds. Juniors Grace Reingruber (2:31) and Hallie Jester (2:32) and sophomore Caroline Leuba (2:32) followed, and the team finished in 9:58, for second place overall.

Then Doll ran the 1600-meter race, taking the lead from start to end, winning easily in 5:21. “The impressive thing about her was that all her laps around the track were exactly the same split,” Young said. “If I can get a runner in their senior year, and if I’ve worked with them for four years, I’m really excited they can run an even split. And she got on the track for the first time in three years, and was able to do it right away. It’s really impressive.”

Reingruber and Jester also ran strong 1600-meter races, finishing in 5:32 and 5:33, respectively.

“I think having Alex out there gets everyone a little bit more excited,” Young said. “She brings a sense of confidence to our team when she is out there.”

Strong showing by boys' 4 x 800

The all-senior boys’ 4 x 800 relay also ran well. Terrence James led off in 2:07, the first to pass the baton. The next two runners – Eliot Gerson (2:08) and Trevor Stephens (2:07) – maintained the lead. The anchor, Phillip Catterall (2:13) ran well, but couldn’t hold the lead. The team finished second in 8:48. “It was one of the better times we have run this early in the season. They are extremely competitive,” Young said.

In the girls’ 3200-meter run, junior Ava Farrell battled for the lead up until the final two laps, finishing second in 11:50. Sophomore Laura Nakasaka finished in 12:34, easily besting her goal of finishing under 13 minutes, while freshman Amanda Cohen finished second in her heat in 13:36.

In the boys’ 300, James also ran strong, finishing in 36:18. (Results were not available immediately.)

For the girls’ 300, sophomore Brittney Wade led the team, finishing in 43.41, while freshman Laila Ismail (44.09) was close behind. Senior Katie Williams also ran well, finishing in 45.48, a personal record.

In the girls’ 4 x 200 meter relays, a team comprised of Ismail, Wade, Williams and sophomore Shayna Nash finished in 1:58.86. The top boys’ 4 x 200 team finished in 1:39.01. The runners were sophomore Freddy Nzekele (25:32); James (24.25); freshman Duc Momo (25.54); and senior Nana Twum Agyire (23.90). They were one of the top teams overall.

In the boys’ 500, seniors Agyire and Stephens both ran 1:12, with Agyire edging out his teammate.

And in the triple jump, freshman Kenneth Norris, who had never competed in the event, discovered he had a new talent. He jumped 37 feet, 6 inches. “For the first time, that was really good,” Young said. “It’s the time of the year when people are trying new things, and I really respect him for getting out there and trying.”

Tune-ups done, competition begins

At the beginning of every sports season, a coach is never sure what to expect. Will top performers from previous years build on their successes? What about newcomers? Or previous back-of-the-pack athletes – will they step up?

Chad Young, the head coach of the B-CC indoor track team, is starting to learn some answers to those questions following one scrimmage meet (Dec. 4 at the Montgomery County scrimmage at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex) and one “practice” against other Montgomery County schools (Dec. 14 at Georgetown Prep).

Here’s seven highlights so far as the team prepares for its first official competition on Wednesday at the first Montgomery County Developmental Meet at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex. The second county meet will be Dec. 29.

1. Junior Ava Farrell’s fast start. “She seems to be in tiptop shape from cross-country season,” Young said. At the Dec. 4, meet, Farrell battled junior Alexandra Phillips of Whitman during the 1600 meter race. “Ava sat on her shoulder, and they went neck and neck to the finish line, where she was out-leaned,” he said. She set a personal record that day, running 5 minutes, 28 seconds. And then, 10 days later, she ran a new PR, 5:26.
2. Two freshmen performances. Freshmen Helen Webster and Simone McGuinness, both newcomers to track, ran their first 800 meter races at the Dec. 4 meet. “Helen took off in the lead for the first two laps, with Simone on her shoulder,” Young said. “Simone passed her, took the lead, created a small gap, but Helen responded and won at the end. It was fun to watch both of them compete for the first time and do so well.” Webster finished in 2:49, McGuinness in 2:50.
3. New competition: During the cross-country season, freshman Laila Ismail ran well but didn’t finish in the top pack. But Young placed her in some of the sprints for the indoor track competitions, and immediately Ismail provided competition to standout sophomore Brittney Wade. In the 55-meter dash, Wade finished in 7.4 seconds, Ismail in 7.7. In the 300-meter race, Wade was 44.02, Ismail 44.07. “If these two girls push each other, they could be pretty good,” Young said.
4. Another strong freshman performance: At the Dec. 4 meet, freshman Kenneth Norris ran a 5:23 1600-meter ran, winning his heat. At the second practice, he ran 5:36 in the 1600, and 2:22 in the 800-meter race. “He seems to be fitting right in and making it look easy as a first timer,” Young said.
5. Stretching out two stars: In one experiment during the first two meets, Young put two of his returning stars, Wade and senior Terrence James (both qualified for the state meet last year) in the 800 meter races. In the two races, Wade ran 2:41 and 2:37. James ran 2:10 at the Georgetown Prep practice. “Brittney is showing she has a lot of strength and could step up or down in distances depending on where we need her,” Young said. “For TJ, I wanted him to experience something new, and challenge him physically and mentally. Both of them really shined.” In the 800 meter boys race, Young said he asked his top runners to run with James for the first two laps, and “then I told TJ I wanted to see what he’s got.Trevor Stephens was pretty far ahead of him and TJ caught up and beat him. TJ is now making me rethink how we want to put together our 4x800 meter relay because he is so versatile.”
6. Senior Eliot Gerson’s strong performances. “He’s in great shape, and it showed – it’s exciting and encouraging,” Young said. He ran the 1600-meter races in 4:44 and 4:39. Stephens also ran a strong 1600 in 4:48 on Dec. 4.
7. On deck: “Wednesday will be our first opportunity to see where we fit in to the overall standings, and compare ourselves to the entire county,” Young said. “Right now, we’re looking pretty good, and our times are respectable. We’ll be building throughout the season and I believe we will be able to compete with the best teams. I think our effort will be stepped up in Wednesday's meet and that the team will be fired up since the results will be official.”