Over the past three years, coach Tom Martin has taken a mediocre, middle-of-the-pack running program and turned it into a speed powerhouse that strikes fear and terror into the eyes of every opponent they face, particularly local rivals Whitman and Churchill.

The cross country team has won back-to-back State and Regional championships (’08, ’09) both the boys’ and girls’ indoor track team finished in the top ten  (’08, ’09), and the outdoor track team, although not finishing as well as cross country and indoor track, has stepped out of other teams’ shadow and into a spotlight of its own.

This year’s indoor track team, led by seniors Sean O’Leary, Martin Dally and Jenna Willett, completed their season two weeks ago at the State Championships on Feb. 23.

In Martin’s eyes, the team made alot of improvements compared to past seasons.

“The 4×8’s were better, the girls set a school record in that,” Martin said. “Boys and girls distance squads were focused and determined, finding ways to train despite the weather issues, and this was probably the most dedicated group we’ve ever had.”

After a rough start to the season at the Howard County/ MCPS Challenge on Dec. 5, where the boys finished 21st and the girls finished 19th, things started looking up at the Montgomery County championships on Jan. 25, where the boys finished second, and the girls finished sixth.

Dally and O’Leary both had great runs at the MoCo Championships, with Dally finishing first in the 500m, O’Leary finishing first in the 1600m and senior Ishan Dey finishing second in the 3200m. The girls also fared well, with junior Camille Bouvet finishing third in the 3200m and Willett finishing third in the 800m.

After their late run at counties, the team headed to Regionals with a vengeance, ready to take on Damascus, who robbed them of the county title.

At Regionals, Dey, O’Leary, and Dally all finished in the same places for the same races as they did at counties. The girls finished second in the 4x800m relay, as the team finished second again, this time to Thomas Johnson.

The team completed their season at State Championships, with the boys finishing fifth and the girls finishing ninth. O’Leary finished first in the 1600m again, as he did at Counties and Regionals. The boys 4x800m relay team, composed of junior Nick Regan, sophomore Josh Ellis, senior Daniel Kirwan and Dally, came in second, and for the girls team, Bouvet finished second in the 3200m.  While the team season is now over, several runners will be competing at Nike Indoor Nationals, March12-16 .With this, the seniors look back on their curtain call as indoor track runners.

“My time here was pretty successful,” said Dally. “But I have still have some goals to accomplish with the outdoor season underway and Nationals coming up.”

While Dally and a few others train for Nationals, Martin prepares for next year’s indoor track team, as well as outdoor track.

“[We need] sprinters and throwers [for next year], and we’re working on it as we speak during outdoor [track],” Martin said.

The track and field season begins on March 23 at Richard Montgomery at 3:30 p.m.