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The 250-pound Trojan led all throwers with a 60-foot, half-inch toss to capture a gold medal at the eighth annual Montgomery Invitational at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex.

"I used to play basketball in the winter," said Stanley, who broke the six-year-old meet record of 58 feet, 5.5 inches. "But throwing helps me stay in strength shape better for football. It allows me to stay as strong as I can and helps with balance and quickness."

Stanley has been a dominant force in the Class 4A circle over the past four track seasons, capturing four county, four regional and four state titles.

Two other Montgomery County football players also had good showings. Quince Orchard senior Marcus Brown, a defensive tackle, finished second (57-6.5), while Clarksburg's two-time 2A shot put state champion, Avery Graham, an All-Gazette first-team linebacker, placed sixth (50-0.25).

Blair's Victor Wang took fifth with a throw of 50-07.25.

Sprinting forward

Graham continued his strong performance by taking second in the 55-meter dash, clocking a time of 6.35 seconds. He finished less than one-hundredth of a second behind Damien Thigpin of Stonewall Jackson (Va.).

Kennedy's Bisi Ezekoye (6.60) placed sixth while Northwest's Hassan Dixon defaulted with a false start in the finals.

Georgetown Prep's Joseph Woiwode (50.79) finished second in the 400 dash, while Clarksburg's Mark Small (51.22) took fifth.

On the girls side, Wootton's 2008 Gazette Athlete of the Year, sprinter Olivia Ekpone, had a solid but unspectacular day as she finished third in the 55 dash and second in the 400. The sophomore came into the Invitational not having lost head-to-head to any Montgomery County athlete in an open event.

McDonogh's Amanda Kimbers took first in the 55 with a time of 7.05 seconds while Churchill's Katie Wolf (7.14) edged Ekpone by one-hundredth of a second for runner-up.

Paint Branch senior Arielle Statham crossed the finish line in 57.03 in the 400, while Ekpone clocked in at 57.24.

Statham also won the triple jump with a distance of 37-07.50. Panthers teammate Vanessa Jules was runner-up in the high jump (5-06).

Prepping for spring

In the mile race, Georgetown Prep's Ramsey Chapin (4:27.70) was seventh, while Whitman's Andrew Palmer (4:23) finished fifth.

"It wasn't coming together," said Chapin. "But it's January, so I'm not going to try and win this Invitational mile on Jan. 9 since you've got until July to start cruising."

Chapin also helped his distance medley relay (10:37.98) team take first place with a 4:20 1600-meter leg.

"We have a great DMR team," Chapin said. "Inside the county, there is a lot of competition. Carl Dennis, Nick Letorneau and Joe Woiwode are great teammates. They deserve a lot of credit."

Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Addie Tousley was the top Montgomery County athlete in the girls 1600 with a fourth-place finish (5:19.85).

"I'm okay with it," said Tousley, also the reigning Class 3A cross country state champion. "I was hoping to go a little faster, but I had a couple hard workouts this week and they kind of hit me. It's just about building to the spring."

In the girls DMR, Damascus (13:16.35) and B-CC (13:17.48) finished third and fourth, respectively, as Tousley nearly caught the Swarmin' Hornets on the final leg.

"We did pretty well," said Tousley. "Better than I expected."

King for a day

Churchill senior Sean King won the boys 800 in 2:00.47, while Gaithersburg's Antonio Palmer (2:02.58) took third. King was also a member of the Bulldogs' victorious 4x800 relay team (8