By Will Van Gelder ’16

The indoor track team has relied on senior leadership to help guide a young team through a season that will culminate with the Regional on February 1 and State Championships on February 16. As senior runner Paul Lee explained, it is important that the younger members of the team understand that track is very disciplined sport and “to hold themselves accountable.”

The boys’ and girls’ teams both have seen that disciplined accountability pay off at its two most recent meets. At the Montgomery Invitational on January 9, the team worked their hardest and Junior Renaldo Smith scored three points in the boys’ triple jump open competition.

On December 29 at the third meet of the MCPS track season, the team finished 7th with 29 points. The team was led by senior shot put specialist Osa Ikheloa, whose personal-best heave of 44′ 5 1/2″ in the 12-pound shot put won the event and gave the Warriors 10 of their total points. “It’s a great feeling to see my hard work pay off in the meets,” said Ikheloa, who hopes to win the event at the Regional meet and have a competitive presence at the State meet. At the December 29 meet, Smith placed 3rd in both the long jump and triple jump to help the overall team effort.

The team is gearing up for the county finals on January 20, when they hope to make a name for themselves and compete competitively throughout.