ERHS Cross Country - Preview, Midseason, and Recap Report

By Dejen Mengis
Staff Writer
The Raider

The Eleanor Roosevelt High School Cross Country team has been known for its dominance in Prince George's County; and it does not look like they are slowing down.

The boys varsity team started off their season strong with a fourth place finish at the Maymont Park Cross Country Course, led by fifth place finisher junior Charles Bollinger. The girls’ side looked strong as well, finishing in seventh place in the Coastal Girls Division, led by race winner ERHS junior Amirah Johnson.

The Maymont course is known for showcasing some of the best talent throughout Maryland and Virginia. Yet amid the competition, the team performed well.

“A lot of people improved on their personal best,” said Coach Gregory Johnson. Johnson took over the head coach job amid the preseason resignations of coaches Timothy McMahon and Sherman Turner. Since then McMahon has followed former coach Desmond Dunham to a post as a part-time volunteer coach at the University of Maryland and Turner has loosened the time conflicts between coaching and his job.

Last year Coach Johnson took over as head coach of indoor and outdoor track. This season, however, marks Johnson’s first as head coach of the cross country team.

Although Coach Johnson believes that it had a “good combination before” he thinks the team’s performance is not expected to drop.

Despite the team’s success, however, many still expect it to perform better. “We have a ton of potential and we’ve made a lot of improvement, but we’re not all the way there yet,” commented junior Carl White.

A major goal of the team this year is to perform better at the state meet than they did last year, at which they finished 14th overall. “We have very high expectations,” added White.

“Our team will be very good this year at the state championship,” predicted sophomore Justin Ahalt.

The girls have also found success this year, which seems to be focused around junior Amirah Johnson.

“I am very pleased with our performances this year,” said Johnson. “I think we will do well and get a good place at states.”

The state meet, held at Hereford High School, is widely known for being one of the toughest courses in the country. However, the team’s assurance that they will be “very good at the state championship” makes it hard to doubt their future success.