On Feb. 18, Rock Ridge hosted Broad Run, Dominion, Heritage, John Champe, Loudoun County, Park View, Tuscarora and Woodgrove High Schools for the 2025 regional track championships. 

Many athletes stood out with their performance during the meet, including senior Lilia Jones who placed first in the meet in the girls 55 meter dash with a time of 7.24, beating second place by 0.18 second. Senior Eli Santos placed first in the boys 55 meter dash with a time of 6.69 seconds, beating second place by a full 0.2 seconds, “I’d say that that [55 meter dash] is my event,” Santos said. In the boys 300 meter dash, junior Khem Temoka placed first in the meet with a time of 36.20 seconds. 

Along with the individual athletes, the Phoenix relay teams stood out with the girls 4×200 team placing first in the meet with a time of 1:49.16 seconds and the boys 4×400 team placing first with a time of 3:32.55 seconds. “The boys 4×800 competed well, and it was their first time competing at the regional level in many years,” Cross Country and co-head Track coach, Michael Johnson, said. “My overall reflection [of the season] is despite the many days we were unable to practice because of snow, we still did and competed very well and athletes showed lots of improvement.” 

Overall, the Rock Ridge indoor track and field team placed sixth in the meet overall with a combined score of 38. First place was taken by the Loudoun Valley Vikings with a score of 114 . In total four sprinters qualified for states, including senior Lilia Jones, junior Khem Temoka and senior Julian Olgetree. Additionally, the athletes of the boys 4×400 and the girls 4×200 team qualified for states. 

The State Championships will be at Lynchburg Virginia on Mar. 3 2025.

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Bhargav Kuniki

Senior Micha Younger runs the girls 55 meter dash. “ I would say I have a good mindset. I would say I definitely worked on my form a lot better and holding my speed a lot [more] consistently,” Younger said.