On Saturday, April 26th, the Chargers hosted the 3rd Annual XBC Track Experience, sponsored by Cassels Sports & Awards.  This event hosted teams from 30 schools in Virginia, DC & Maryland in solid track & field competition.  This meet has been dedicated to the memory of XB Cox, IV, member of the Class of 2005, and a twelve-season varsity athlete in the Charger track & cross country program.  "Boone" Cox died in September, 2006, following a nine month battle with leukemia.

One way to honor Boone's memory was through personifying the same competitive spirit that he exuded throughout his career.  From this end, the Charger's held up their end this weekend.  Several members had earned medals, regional and state qualifiers and even a school record by the end of the meet.  Many of these highlights came from the ever-growing power of the sprint squad.  Senior Raymond "Bugsy" Urrutia had one of the best days of his career in his final home meet of his career.  He earned his first automatic state meet qualifier in the 200m dash, in a personal best time of 22.57, leading to a strong 3rd place finish.  In the 100m Dash, he also finished third, with a personal best time of 11.21, which was just .01 away from state qualifying.  Senior Robert Herrity and junior Kim Weinberg also ran well, earning medals in the 110m hurdles, while sophomore Genevieve Manley ran well in both the 100m and 200m dashes. Ever-improving freshmen Nina Ullom and Mohammed Labor-Koroma each took top-3 finishes in the 400m dash. The girls 4x 100m relay team of Amira Idris, Jessica Reingold, Meera Abdul-Malek and Manley finished a strong third place, earning an regional qualifyier.

The field events also showed Charger talent.  Freshman Amira Idris took home two silver medals in the long jump and triple jump.  Placing her solidly amongst the regional leaders in both events, Idris also earned a new school record in the triple jump, with a personal best leap of 35' 11.5".  Idris also set the indoor school record this winter for the same event.  Junior All-Met Wesley Sun also earned a state qualifier by winning the pole vault in a seasonal best height of 13' 0".  While she didn't place, senior throws captain Jane Saunders had a wonderful meet, highlighted by her personal best discus throw of 83-2, while sophomore Sarah Meier also improved by over a foot with her shot put of 29' 9.5".

The distance runners also showed their prowess with ever improving times.  Junior Chris Foley and Senior Eric Palmer both medalled (4th & 5th places)in the 1600m run, with times that put them solidly amongst the district leaders.  Hannah Strub also had a great day, placing 4th in the freshman 1600m run, with a personal best time of 5:43.81, as well as teamming with senior Karen Spears, freshman Jennie Cohen and sophomore Jenna Marlette in the 3rd place 4x800m run.  Spears and fellow senior Lauren Lenski enjoyed strong personal bests in the 1600m and 3200m run respectively, in their last meet at home.

The Chargers enjoyed a strong team finish, with 3rd place rankings on both sides, with Stone Bridge winning for both the boys and girls teams.   One final highlight of the meet was the awarding of the annual XB Cox, IV Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is presented in honor of XB Cox, to a senior track team member who demonstrates dedication to the team, a strong sense of humor, and love for the sport as the name sake.  Voted on by the team and coaches, this year's recipient was Waleed "Stan" Mufti.  As XB Cox, III put it in his presentation, the award was designed for someone just like Stan.  Congratulations go out to Mufti, with thanks for his hard work and loyalty and compassion to all of his teams over his nine career seasons.

With the Chargers in the stretch drive of their regular season, they have three meets in the next week.  They will be at Westfield for their final regular season quad meet on Wednesday, April 30th, and will split their squads on Saturday, May 3rd, with part of the team competing at the TC Williams Invitational (held at CHS) while the rest of the team will be at the NIKE Invitational held at Westfield.