By  Leo Corman ’15

On December 17, the indoor track squad opened the season by coming out strong in the first countywide meet at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Center in Landover.  Juniors Lauren and Tiffany Woods had excellent races in the 55 meter dash, finishing with the second and fourth best overall times in the event (7.20 and 7.30 seconds).  Senior Grace McDonald also ran well, winning her heat in the 300 meter race and running the fourth best time in the 800 meter (2:31).  On the boys side, junior Rufus Settles posted the sixth best time of the day in the 55 meter dash (6.60 seconds), while senior David Zavala demonstrated his versatility with his performances in the shot put (36 feet) and 800 meter run (2:13).  Additionally, junior Owen Miller, in his first time running the event, finished second in his heat for the 500 meter run.

“It was definitely a good start to the season; we showed that we have potential.  We’ve got a lot of time before our next meet, so we can use that time to train hard and build on this last meet.  As a leader on this team, I have to make sure I set the right example by putting in the work at practices, and hopefully we’ll have a good, fun season that carries over into [the] outdoor [season],” said Miller.

Since their second meet was cancelled due to snow, the team will not compete again until December 30.  They were without key runners junior Jefferson Ruiz and senior Kyle Melnick, who were sidelined by injuries during the first meet, and the team will look forward to getting these athletes back as they continue to improve throughout the season.