After the closure of a successful season for both boys and girls cross country, AHS indoor track headed into their first meet with hopes high.

Both teams qualified for the regional meet, but only two runners advanced to the state meet in The Plains, Virginia to run individually.

Now, their focus shifts to the shorter distance races featured in track.

The Atoms’ first meet of the season was the DCIAA Indoor Open Invitational in Landover, which took place on Dec. 1.

The meet combined distance events of runners who took part in cross country, short distance sprinting events, relays, and field events.

Most of the teams that participated in the meet were schools from the D.C. area who are known for their sprinting skills.

Additionally, some teams located closer to AHS participated like Justice and T.C. Williams. They were also looking to get a taste of what the competition looked like in the D.C. area.

However, the purpose of the meet was to serve as a time trial as every performance would set a personal record for the season.

With this, coaches now have an easier time identifying where improvements need to be made and how exactly to go about them before postseason.

“At the meet on Dec. 1 in Landover, we performed fair,” Phil Harris said. “Overall, as a team, we could have done better. But, it is early in the season and we were missing many of our older athletes due to SAT testing.”

On Dec. 22, AHS will again return to the same facility in Landover for the PR Holiday Invitational.

The teams registered so far for the meet seem to have a completely different dynamic than the teams who participated on Dec. 1. Most of the teams

registered for this meet are closer to the location of AHS, however few are from the Bethesda area.

“This year, I am very excited about the high number of athletes that we have on the team this year,” Harris said.

These numbers are necessary for a team to be successful in a sport like track as there are a wide variety of events from field to relays to short and long distance races.

“When we keep working hard in practice, I feel that we will have a lot of talent for each of the events in our meets,” Harris said.

Overall, these two meets will offer AHS a broad taste of the skill levels of many different teams in preparation the season that lies ahead.

“We have been and will continue to work hard every day. I believe that we have the numbers and commitment to give teams in our district like T.C. competition,” Harris said.

Harris also expressed his goals for the team to accomplish and how exactly the ideal improvement would look like.

“We are working toward the goal of placing as best we can in the district. I would also like to have our relay teams advance from districts to the regional meet.

Thus far in the season, it is difficult to tell exactly how the season for AHS indoor track will turn out. But, we will have to just wait to see what this season has in store in terms of success for the Atoms.