County championship: ‘A test of strength’

After finishing fourth in the 300-meter race at the Montgomery County championship on Monday, B-CC junior Brittney Wade became physically ill. She didn’t know if she could continue.

Coach Chad Young talked quietly to her. He asked how she was doing. He said how important it was to marshal her strength and to try another race.

Wade did more than try. She ran the 500-meter race, finishing third in 1 minute, 17 seconds. She ran the 800-meter race, winning it in 2:21. And then she ran the anchor leg of the girls’ 4 x 400 relay; the team finished third overall in 4:17.

“It was a test of strength,” Young said afterward. “It’s pretty rare to run all those events, and she did really, really well. It was a nice test run for her before the regionals and the states. After the 300-meter race, I wasn’t sure she could continue. But she pulled together for her team and got back out there.”

The other runners on the 4 x 400 team were juniors Laura Nakasaka and Caroline Leuba, and sophomore Laila Ismail. The time beat their previous record by six seconds.

The state now ranks runners of all high schools by their best time, and Wade’s performance vaulted her into elite company. She is now 19th fastest in the state in the 300, 6th fastest in the 500, and 3rd fastest in the 800.

Wade wasn’t the only star of the day. There was a second: senior Ava Farrell.

Farrell was an ironwoman as well, anchoring the 4 x 800-meter relay, which finished second overall in 9:45; finishing second in the 1600-meter race in 5:18, a personal record; and finishing second in the 3200-meter race in 11:50.

Freshman Caroline Beakes finished fourth in the 3200-meter race in 11:57. “She was flying around the track in the last lap,” Young said.

Young said that Farrell ran a tactically smart race in the two-mile with a strong kick at the end, surprising a runner and edging her for second place. In the mile, Young said that Farrell did exceptionally well and her time is ranked as sixth fastest in the state.

The girls’ 4 x 800 team also included Leuba (2:29); Nakasaka (2:25), and senior Hallie Jester (2:25). Farrell ran 2:25 in the relay. It was the first time this season that the team finished under 10 minutes.

Rounding out the scoring the girls was Ismail, finishing eighth in the 300-meter race in
43:03. The girls’ team finished fourth overall in the county meet.

For the boys’ team, sophomore Peter Horton ran a blistering mile race, finishing eighth overall in 4:42, his PR by eight seconds. Horton was the only member of the B-CC boys’ team to score in the meet. The team finished 22nd out of 25 teams.

The next meet will be Saturday at the Georgetown Prep track invitational. The regional championship is set for Feb. 9 at the Baltimore Armory, and the state championship is Feb. 21 at the Prince Georges Sportsplex.