Week in Review: 12/30 - 1/4

Eleanor Roosevelt took control of the Prince George's County sprint leaderboards over the weekend up at the Hispanic Games in New York City. (Photo by Steven Pisano)


December 30: Frostbite Invitational

Mount St. Joseph senior Teddy Wimberly ran a season-best 6.52 in the 55 meter dash to win Monday's Frostbite Invitational. Aside from his 6.49 at last year's North Shore HS Pre-National Invitational, it was the fastest performance of his career and one that sets him up once again as a contender for the MIAA title (he finished fifth in the finals of the 55 meter dash at last year's indoor conference meet).

The Pett brothers are making their presence known on the state 800 meter leaderboard. Sophomore Owen ran 2:00.81 to win the Frostbite Invite 800 on Monday, which still ranks ninth in the state as of 1/6. Number eight on the leaderboard? His older brother, Spencer, at 2:00.29 (he won the 1600 in 4:29.17).

Over in the pole vault the South Carroll boys went 1-2, racking up 18 points for the Cavaliers' cause on Monday. Senior Patrick Tunkel and sophomore Peyton Thomas each cleared 13'9, which puts them in a two-way tie for sixth in Maryland and tops among 2A competitors.

After clearing 50 feet in the pole vault for the first time at the Howard County Winter Festival, Century's Chett Brunner raised his personal best to 52'4 in his win at Frostbite. It's the third-best time in Maryland and easily the best by a 2A thrower (Oakdale's Nicholas Rohwer sits second at 48'1.50). Archbishop Curley's Samuel Burke, who finished second, also cleared 50 feet in a personal-best effort, and now leads all private school boys in the shot put.

The Whittaker sisters starred on the girls' side at Monday's invitational. Senior Bella Whittaker won both the 55 and 300 meter dashes; her 7.20 personal best in the former ranks third in the state, and her 39.45 time in the 300 was her second straight sub-39.50 performance to begin the indoor season.

Meanwhile sophomore Juliette Whittaker made her indoor season debut after racing at Foot Locker XC Nationals and did not disappoint, dropping a 2:07.54 800. It's her second-fastest time in the event behind her 2:05 performance at New Balance Outdoor Nationals last year, and also the second-fastest time in the entire country.

Had it not been for Whittaker, the most dominant distance performance of the day would have belonged to Manchester Valley's Rubie Goffena. She remained undefeated on the indoor season by running away with the 3200, setting a new personal best of 11:20.11 in the process. Only Walter Johnson's Jenna Goldberg has run faster this year in the 3200 (while Charlotte Turesson also has a faster two mile time).

The Urbana girls dominated the relay races at Monday's meet, and it was their performance in the 4x800 that stood out among the rest. As the rest of the state continued to inch their way toward the sub-10:00 mark in the event, the Hawks blew the doors off that barrier, putting together a 9:42 performance with their 'A' squad to take over the top time in the state by 20 seconds. Their winning time in the 4x200 still ranks seventh in the state after the weekend.


January 3: MIAA/IAAM Meet #3



Senior Jhaden Sydnor became the second Calvert Hall runner this season to break 6.50 seconds in the 55 meter dash when he ran 6.48 at Friday's meet. He joins fellow senior Sean Tucker, who won the 300 meter dash and has a season best of 6.46. Teammate Owen Johnson made his 1600 debut on Friday and did not disappoint, as he became the first boy in Maryland to break 4:20 in the event. It's the first time Johnson has run under 4:20 indoors.

From a pair of seniors to a standout freshman, John Carroll's Nick Singleakis won the 3200 at Friday's league meet. After running the second-fastest 5K by a freshman this fall, Singleakis became the first freshman to break 10 minutes in the 3200. It's the fastest freshman time in the state since McDonogh's Dalton Hengst ran 9:27 as a freshman back in the winter of 2015.

In lieu of a 4x800 relay, Friday's race kicked off with a 1600 sprint medley and the boys race did not disappoint. Gilman's Beck Wittstadt closed out the race with a 1:55 anchor leg as the Greyhounds clocked a US #1 time of 3:33.60. The McDonogh boys finished second with a US #5 time of 3:37.17.

The top girls performance of the evening belonged to Bryn Mawr's Maelynn Ugowke. The reigning outdoor IAAM champion in the triple jump took over the current conference lead in the event with an indoor personal best of 36'1 on Friday, a mark that ranks seventh in Maryland.


Hispanic Games

Photo by Steven Pisano

The Whittaker sisters wrapped up a stellar week at The Armory in New York over the weekend. After their dominant performances at the Frosbite Invitational on Monday, they set more indoor personal bests in New York City. Juliette Whittaker ran 4:44 for the full mile in a victorious performance; she is the only girl in the US with a sub-4:50 (1600 or converted mile) performance to date. Meanwhile, Bella Whittaker won both the 200 and 400 meter dashes, setting indoor personal bests in both events. Her times of 54.84 and 24.54 rank third and sixth in the country, respectively.

The Archbishop Spalding distance duo of Ryan Miller and Henry Hardart turned in their best performances of the indoor season to date up at The Armory. They teamed up to run an 8:17 4x800, which was the top time in Maryland until the Chopticon boys ran faster over the weekend at the SMAC Classic. Miller then won the two mile in a time that converts to 9:25 - the fastest 3200 time in the state. Hardart ran a mile that converts to a 4:20 1600, which ranks second in the state behind MIAA rival Owen Johnson.

Bishop McNamara's Mya Bradley finished fifth in the girls long jump with a distance (17'7.25) that also ranks fifth in the state after the weekend's action.

Centennial's Thomas Altman ran 50.11 in the 400 meter dash, which ranks fifth in the state; meanwhile junior Jacob Cole ran 9:39 in the two mile which, when converted to the 3200 (9:35), ranks sixth in Maryland.

The Eleanor Roosevelt sprinters had a tremendous weekend up in New York. Junior Laurenz Colbert ran a big 6.41 personal best in the 55 meter dash to move up to fourth in the state rankings and first in the county. His performance in the 200 meter dash was possibly even better: his 21.64 winning time fell less than a tenth of a second shy of the top time (21.56) in Maryland. Both 4x200 squads flexed their depth as well; both boys and girls teams ran MD #1 times of 1:30.39 and 1:44.24, although the latter was surpassed by Bullis at the SMAC Classic on Saturday.

Hammond senior Loick Amouzou created some separation at the top of the state leaderboard in the 55 meter hurdles over the weekend. Amouzou ran 7.46 in the finals to win the event at The Armory and is the first Maryland boy this year to break 7.50 in the hurdles. Only Digital Harbor's Shawn Getzen who ran 7.58 on Saturday has even broken 7.70 seconds.

Howard teammates Nimrit Ahuja and Amanda Eliker finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the mile as they both ran 5:17. Their times, when converted to the 1600, rank fourth and fifth in Maryland and tops among 4A runners. The Howard boys, meanwhile, cracked the top five in the state 4x400 rankings with their 3:32.21 second-place race.

A pair of private school runners finished with season best times in the mile that rank them among the top ten in the state. Holton-Arms' Francesca Cetta, who hasn't run indoor much in the past, ran 5:22, while Maryvale Prep's Rachel Thomas ran 5:23; their converted 1600 times rank seventh and tenth in the state, respectively.

The Milford Mill boys continue to enjoy success up in New York City this indoor season. Junior Shavar Staats became the first 2A runner to break 6.50 seconds in the 55 meter dash when he ran 6.46. Meanwhile, junior Marquis Miller (49.81) and sophomore Korede Otusajo (49.90) became two of the four boys in Maryland to break 50 seconds in the 400 meter dash this season. The future is extremely bright for the Millers as their top four boys (junior Breez Wigfield included) are all still only sophomores or juniors.

Riverdale Baptist senior Cayla Johnson has become one of the best all-around athletes in the state this year after adding the high jump (5'4 season best, tied for MD #1) to her event repertoire. She set a personal best in the 55 meter hurdles (8.52) that ranks sixth in Maryland over the weekend, and she also ranks third in the state in the long jump (17'10).


January 4: Southern Maryland Indoor Classic

Full recap coming soon!