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Boys' Track and Field Preview

Athlete to Watch

Zach Ray, Huntingtown, Senior

Ray competed in three events at last year's Maryland 3A championships, but walked away with just one state title. The Huntingtown senior All-Met is the defending 300-meter hurdles champion and the top returner in the 100 hurdles and in the long jump, events in which he won silver last year.

"I want to be able to take three events this year," said Ray, who has signed with the University of Maryland. "That would be going out with a bang."

Around the Area

An exciting rivalry developed indoors between sprint sensations Justin Murdock of Meade and Devon Smith of Westlake, and it should only heat up this spring. Smith edged Murdock for the Maryland 3A 55-meter dash title in February, but clocked a slightly slower 60-meter time at the end of the season, albeit on a different track. Last week Murdock placed second at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York in 6.72 seconds; Smith was second at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover in 6.77 seconds. The duo are expected to race in the 100 at the state meet in May.

Experienced two milers such as Potomac School's Johns Ross, Quince Orchard's Neal Darmody and Jefferson's Brian Landry ran nationally ranked times indoors. However, newcomer Solomon Haile made the biggest splash on the national scene. The Sherwood senior, who enrolled this school year after emigrating from Ethiopia, won the 3,200 in 9 minutes 17.13 seconds at Georgetown Prep's Last Track to Philly meet. It was his first race in a Warriors uniform. Last Saturday, he won the 5K at Nike Indoor Nationals in 14:53.93, a meet record by eight seconds.

Four runners finished the indoor season ranked among the nation's top 10 in 500 meters -- Episcopal junior Allante Keels, Damascus senior Wil Zahorodny, Potomac (Va.) senior Eric Gyamfi and Lake Braddock senior Chris Letson. Zahorodny was the area leader, running 1:04.71 to win the Maryland 3A championship in record time. The group will try to back up those times with fast performances this spring around the 400-meter track.

Dunbar won its first D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association outdoor championship last year, and followed that up with an indoor title in February when it edged Theodore Roosevelt by two points. But Roosevelt, led by four-time indoor champion Jahmal Waldon, will challenge Dunbar at the city championship in May. Perennial forces Wilson and Coolidge also should be in the hunt.

Walkersville's Jon Hill and North Point's Tristan Benton both leaped 6 feet 8 inches in the high jump indoors. They squared off at the Maryland 2A championships, where Hill won at 6-8, two inches higher than Benton. Look for them to renew their rivalry this spring.

Gaithersburg's Sean Stanley was the Washington area leader in the shot put with a toss of 56-1, but DeMatha's Aaron Brooks, Brunswick's Ben Horner and T.C. Williams's Frank Afriyie were all better than 51 feet this winter and hope to surpass Stanley as the area's best.