Donna Mullings and Zuzette Mullings of the Howard girls track team say that most people they meet mistakenedly peg them for sisters.
Besides sharing the same last name, they're both exchange students from Jamaica.
And as the rest of the field at yesterday's Class 3A Central Region Championships found out, both are using their immense speed to light up the local track scene.
The two combined to finish first and second in the 300 and 500 meters, and each ran a leg on the winning 4 x 400 relay teams to help the Lions race to the title at the Fifth Regiment Armory.
Zuzette won the 300 in 43.5 seconds to give Howard one of its five first-place ribbons.
Howard won the meet with 103 points, followed by Centennial (80), Franklin (63), Mount Hebron (28) and Randallstown (24).
Parkville won the boys meet with 91, with Howard taking second, Catonsville third, Franklin fourth and Mount Hebron fifth.
Just one year after finishing seventh in the county, the Lions -- who captured their first Howard County girls title last week -- will get their shot at the state championship at the Class 3A meet on Feb. 21 at the Armory.
The Mullingses, as well as transfers Kym Morehouse (Virginia) and Tominka Howard (Wilde Lake), have been a big reason for the turnaround.
"They're probably about 40 percent of our scoring," said Howard co-coach Martin Goode, who said that four of the team's top six scorers are newcomers.
Other top performances from the Lions yesterday came from Howard, third in both the 300 and 55 --; Morehouse, first in the 55 --; Melissa Williamson, first in the high jump; Tamara White, third in the hurdles, and Susan Manchos, fourth in the 55 --.
With such a broad base of talent, the Lions figure to do well in the states. At last year's meet, they only were able to qualify athletes in two events.
Coaches credit the newcomers, as well as an overall positive team attitude, for the turnaround.
"When the girls are on the track it's all business -- they want to win," said co-coach Tony Holland.
"The states are going to be very tough, but if we keep the enthusiasm we've had over the past few weeks I think we can do well."
In the boys competition, Parkville -- despite missing a third of its team due to illnesses and injuries -- ran to top-four finishes in 10 events en route to capturing their first regional title since 1988.
Distance standout Joe Smith led the way racing to victories in the 800 and 1,600, and running a leg on the winning 1,600 relay team.
For 29th-year Parkville coach Don Wann, the results were a little hard to believe.
"We thought we had a shot, but we were missing so many people," said Wann.
"I said, "For you guys to pull this off, everybody has to do their job," and they really did it. I'm a little amazed."