Myla Greene led all Maryland girls in both the 200 and 400 meter dashes at last weekend's Virginia Beach Club Opener. (Photo by Mary Ann Magnant)
Meet Coverage
Maryland Performances: Boys - Girls
Perhaps unsurprisingly it was athletes from the Bullis School that led the way on the girls side. Senior Victoria Perrow, a Virginia Tech commit, smoked the field in the finals of the 60 meter dash en route to a 7.39 personal best. Perrow led Maryland in both the 55 (6.96) and 60 (7.50) meter dashes last winter and kicked off her senior track season earlier in October with a pair of sub-7.10 performances at the Armory in New York City.
Last year's freshman class was one of Bullis' strongest in recent memory led in part by Myla Greene, who led all Maryland freshmen in the 55 and 60 meter hurdles. Greene was Maryland's second-fastest performer in the 60 meter hurdles last weekend, as well as the leader both the 200 and 400 meter dashes. Her 8.96 time in the finals (good for fifth place) bested her 9.10 personal best from last year's University of Kentucky High School Invitational.
Jada Pierre joined Bullis last winter, and while she had been one of Virginia's top underclassman hurdlers at CD Hylton High School, did not hurdle much during the 2020 indoor season. She kicked off this year, however, with an 8.49 winning performance in the 60 meter hurdles - a time that would have tied for the fifth-fastest in the U.S. last year.
Other notable performers include Noelle Foss (CMIT South), who ran 8.03 in the 60 and 26.06 in the 200; Laila Gaynor (Western Tech), who ran 59.67 in the 400; and Ariana Wright (Bullis) who ran 2:24.41 in the 800.
On the boys side, Eleanor Roosevelt senior Laurenz Colbert stole the show in the 60 and 200 meter dashes. His 21.32 time would have been the fifth-fastest in the country last winter, and in the past decade only Eric Allen, Darryl Haraway and Ronald Darby ran faster on an indoor track. Last year's indoor state champion in the 55 meter dash has rocketed up national leaderboards over the last calendar year: coming into the 2020 indoor season, his personal best in the 200 meter dash was 22.29.
Colbert was not the only defending indoor 55 meter state champion in action at Virginia Beach last weekend. Shavar Staats (Milford Mill) was also a finalist in the 60 meter dash, and his 6.99 time translates almost perfectly to the 6.51 time he had clocked at the Armory in New York City back in October.
The Bullis boys graduated plenty of talent from its team last spring, but got a fresh infusion of talent in the form of junior Luke Schroeder who previously competed at West Potomac (VA). Schroeder finished fourth in the 400 meter dash, clocking what was easily a personal best at 48.75.
Maryland picked up two wins at last weekend's meet in the distance events. Kent Island senior Isaiah Schulties, who would have been the 2A favorite in the 800 this season following Kyle Lund's graduation, set an indoor personal best of 1:55.49 to win the event. After multiple sub-1:56 performances during the unofficial 2020 outdoor season, Schulties seems as good a candidate as any to take over the title of Maryland's fastest half-miler this spring.
Meanwhile, James M. Bennett's Timothy Synowiec helped the Bayside Conference's strong showing by winning the 5k with a breakout time of 15:18. In his first track season last winter he worked his way down to a 10:03 3200 at the state meet as a sophomore, and could be poised for a huge breakout to join the ranks of Maryland's elite distance runners this year.
Other notable performers include Malachi Carter (Eleanor Roosevelt), who ran 7.03 in the 60; Alonzo Sims (Riverdale Baptist), who ran 50.81 in the 400; and Vaughn DeVaughn (MerVo), who ran 8.66 in the 60 hurdles and cleared six feet in the high jump.