Baltimore City was represented by two girls teams at yesterday's Class 4A West Region Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Fifth Regiment Armory.
Markiecha Colbert was all that comprised one of those teams.
Colbert, a freshman at Edmondson, was the Redskins' lone representative at yesterday's meet. Even though she didn't place in any of the three events she entered, Colbert's coach, Phillip Louden, couldn't have been happier with her effort.
"Markiecha didn't shake up the world, but I'm proud of what she did today because some other schools in the city were trying to get her to transfer and she wouldn't do it," said Louden, who was hired as an emergency coach. "She wants to be the motivating factor in getting Edmondson established as a track power in this region. She wants to be the spark that got it all started."
Western, which last week won the inaugural Baltimore City Championships, hasn't yet established itself as a regional power either, but the Doves' six-member team gave the nine Montgomery County schools and Frederick High School a small preview of what's to come.
Competing in its first region championship since joining the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association three years ago, Western finished sixth with 36 team points. Frederick won the girls title with 101 1/2 points and Gaithersburg claimed the boys title with 103.
Western's 1,600-meter relay team captured the school's first region title in a winning time of 4 minutes, 19.2 seconds. Members of that history-making quartet were Tamara Clarke, Janee Ward, Elizabeth Johnson and Tamara Laing.
The Doves' 3,200 relay team of Clarke, Johnson, Crystal Richburg and Gabrielle Butler, captured second behind Watkins Mill in 10:17.8.
"This was only our first time here so we just wanted to get a feel of what it was like," said Richburg, who won the 800 at last week's inaugural Baltimore City Indoor Championships.
Laing, a senior at Western, finished third in the 300 --, just over two seconds slower than Frederick's region champion Michelle Higgenbottom (41.8). Laing later ran the anchor leg of the Doves' third-place 800 relay team. Rounding out that foursome for Western were Clarke, Corneyla Mims and Janee Ward.
Clarke qualified for states in the 500 by finishing fourth in 1:23.2.
"We just wanted to be competitive. When you have as many girls as we have, you can't think about winning the meet," said Western coach Jerry Molyneaux.