The indoor track season came to an end on Feb. 11 with the regional competition at the Hagerstown Community College sports facility. There were a total of 18 teams in attendance. 

The Northwest boys were named region champions with an average score of 73.5 while the Wootton boys finished 17th at 2.5 average points. The Walter Johnson girls were named region champions with an average score of 87 and the Wootton girls finished 11th at 11 average points. “Although we didn’t have many opportunities to compete before Regionals this season, I think it went fairly well. There was a lot of really tough competition and some really great athletes that ran at regionals,” coach Victoria McCarthy said. 

 The season hadn’t exactly gone as the coaches planned. This was especially evident in the team’s schedule since the first meet in November. The first four regular season meets were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions with the PG county sports complex. Then, the county approved MCPS track teams to have what they called “Polar Bear” outdoor meets, which were held at Walter Johnson.  There were supposed to be three of these meets but just two took place as one was canceled due to Covid. The MCPS County Championships that were supposed to be held on Jan. 26 were canceled again for pandemic restrictions. 

Nevertheless, the team pushed on and a few select varsity runners were picked to run in the Susquehanna High School Invitational in Philadelphia on Jan. 30. “This was not easy for any of us, and they made it enjoyable along the way. The team is young and I saw a lot of growth from them as the season went on, so I’m excited for the outdoor season where we can hopefully have something closer to what we see as normal,” Coach Mo Drammeh said. 

Shortly after the Susquehanna High School Invitation, regionals took place. Regionals was just the second meet all season to actually happen indoors. This was especially an adjustment for the new runners because the inside tracks are half the size of the outside ones. This means a mile would be eight laps instead of four, for example. Nevertheless, the meet was a success for all who participated, even though some parts of the results sheets may not look as positive. 

The girls leaders for each event were sophomore Autumm Ingram (55 m), sophomore Mariah Smith (300 m), sophomore Joanne Li (500 m), sophomore Meliani Rodgers (800 m), sophomore Victoria Ketzler (1600 m), freshman Aanya Tiwari (3200 m) and freshman Josefa Arellano Rivas (55 Hurdles). 

The boys leaders for each event were senior Jake Drykerman (55 m), senior Elvin Mun (300 m), junior Collin Hall (800 m) and sophomore Yoni Zaslavsky (3200 m). (YONI QUOTE) “We did advance one person to the State meet, which is being held in Baltimore on Feb. 18, Tori Ketzler [Girls 1600m Run], so we’re very excited for her to get another opportunity to run and compete amongst the best in the state,” Drammeh said. Another change between the regional  meet and previous ones was the fact that this track couldn’t handle spikes, meaning no runner could wear spike racing shoes for any events. Some runners did take their “spikes” out of their shoes and run without them so they could still have lighter cushioning. “Despite that, I think we competed as much as we could have and in my opinion could have easily advanced a few more on to the state meet for reasons that were and were not in our control,” Drammeh said.