This past week we hosted the Frederick County Track and Field Championship at TJ. Between the obvious stresses of hosting a championship meet we also had to deal with the potential of strong storms. Luckily we decided not to postpone the meet and the weather turned out not to be an issue at all. The meet also turned out to one packed full of tremendous performances.

I’d like to highlight some of the performances, athletes, or match-ups that stood out to me from this year’s meet.

Najjiyya Franklin-Huff vs Victoria Kennedy

I knew these two girls would square off against each other in at least two races at the meet, the 100 and 200. Victoria put together the top times in the prelims of both events and when it came to finals she also came out on top in the 100, 12.43 to 12.67. In the 200, Najjiyya was able to turn the tables and pull out the win, 25.52 to 26.26.

Najjiyya also scored wins in the long jump, 17’8.5”, and maybe the most impressive sprint performance of the meet a 56.75 win in the 400. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Najjiyyadoes at the regional and state meets.

Chowan Brightful vs Cenarda Jackson

Chowan has been inactive for a large part of the season and in her absence Cenardah as put down some very impressive hurdle times. It was a pretty even race but Chowan pulled out the win by .03 of a second. Lucky for me I’ll see this battle again next weekend at our regional meet. Also, both are only juniors so everyone will get to see it again next year.

Chowan also made a triumphant return to the high jump with a winning jump of 5’6”. Both of her wins came within two minutes of each other.

Cenarda went on to win the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 46.82 and anchor the winning 4x100m relay.

Stephanie Bryan vs. Sara Fisher

Two young county distance stars have yet to meet each other all season and have put down similar 1600 and 3200 times. Stephanie (sophomore) and Sara (junior) both ran very strong races and were able to separate themselves from the field in both events. Stephanie managed wins in both but this should be an interesting match-up for next year.

Dominic Clarke

Dominic left no doubt about his supremacy in the 200 and 400. His run of 22.64 was nearly a half a second ahead of second place and his 49.32 was a second ahead of second place.

Nick Huang

Nick has been one of the most interesting stories of the year, starting in cross country. A season full of promise led to frustration as he was left unable to finish many races during the season. However, starting at the MVAL Chesapeake Championship meet in indoor, Nick has started his ascent to the top of distance running in the county and even the state. His times of 1:58.05 and 4:23.83 are some of the fastest times that have been seen in the county in a long time. I will be very interested to see what he does through the regional meet, state meet, and his senior year.

Dylan Bernard vs. Ceth Parker

These two runners were both coming into the 3200 fresh. Ceth has been known to have a very strong second half of the race and it appeared that Dylan was taking nothing to chance as he pushed the first mile very hard and opened up a lead of over 100 meters. Ceth started his charge in the second mile and closed the gap to 7 seconds but came up short. He did, however, set a new Catoctin school record with his effort.

Jon Hill

Going in to this meet I don’t think it was a matter of what Jon would win, it was a matter of what performance he would amaze us with next. He didn’t disappoint with a 6’8 win in high jump and a 22’6.6” leap in long jump. Triple jump led to a surprise though. I was on my way down to watch the last event of the day and the FNP’s own Josh Smith stopped me and told me that my jumper Brock Chapman jumped 45’6. misheard him and thought he said Jon had that jump. I wasn’t terribly surprised by a jump like that for Jon but was shocked when I heard that it was in fact Brock with that jump.

Jon still had two jumps remaining though. On his third jump he took off about 2 feet behind the board and came up with a 43’ jump and then on his last jump he nearly pulled out the win with a jump of 46’4”, still about a foot behind the board. Both Brock and Jon return next year so continue to look for big things from the both of them.

In the end the Thomas Johnson girls won their third straight county title and the Middletown boys picked up the win. At the JV Championship on Saturday both teams won the respective JV meets.

Nicholas Snyder: Cross Country Frederick County championship wrap-up Originally published May 13, 2008

This past week we hosted the Frederick County Track and Field Championship at TJ. Between the obvious stresses of hosting a championship meet we also had to deal with the potential of strong storms. Luckily we decided not to postpone the meet and the weather turned out not to be an issue at all. The meet also turned out to one packed full of tremendous performances.

I’d like to highlight some of the performances, athletes, or match-ups that stood out to me from this year’s meet.

Najjiyya Franklin-Huff vs Victoria Kennedy

I knew these two girls would square off against each other in at least two races at the meet, the 100 and 200. Victoria put together the top times in the prelims of both events and when it came to finals she also came out on top in the 100, 12.43 to 12.67. In the 200, Najjiyya was able to turn the tables and pull out the win, 25.52 to 26.26.

Najjiyya also scored wins in the long jump, 17’8.5”, and maybe the most impressive sprint performance of the meet a 56.75 win in the 400. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Najjiyyadoes at the regional and state meets.

Chowan Brightful vs Cenarda Jackson

Chowan has been inactive for a large part of the season and in her absence Cenardah as put down some very impressive hurdle times. It was a pretty even race but Chowan pulled out the win by .03 of a second. Lucky for me I’ll see this battle again next weekend at our regional meet. Also, both are only juniors so everyone will get to see it again next year.

Chowan also made a triumphant return to the high jump with a winning jump of 5’6”. Both of her wins came within two minutes of each other.

Cenarda went on to win the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 46.82 and anchor the winning 4x100m relay.

Stephanie Bryan vs. Sara Fisher

Two young county distance stars have yet to meet each other all season and have put down similar 1600 and 3200 times. Stephanie (sophomore) and Sara (junior) both ran very strong races and were able to separate themselves from the field in both events. Stephanie managed wins in both but this should be an interesting match-up for next year.

Dominic Clarke

Dominic left no doubt about his supremacy in the 200 and 400. His run of 22.64 was nearly a half a second ahead of second place and his 49.32 was a second ahead of second place.

Nick Huang

Nick has been one of the most interesting stories of the year, starting in cross country. A season full of promise led to frustration as he was left unable to finish many races during the season. However, starting at the MVAL Chesapeake Championship meet in indoor, Nick has started his ascent to the top of distance running in the county and even the state. His times of 1:58.05 and 4:23.83 are some of the fastest times that have been seen in the county in a long time. I will be very interested to see what he does through the regional meet, state meet, and his senior year.

Dylan Bernard vs. Ceth Parker

These two runners were both coming into the 3200 fresh. Ceth has been known to have a very strong second half of the race and it appeared that Dylan was taking nothing to chance as he pushed the first mile very hard and opened up a lead of over 100 meters. Ceth started his charge in the second mile and closed the gap to 7 seconds but came up short. He did, however, set a new Catoctin school record with his effort.

Jon Hill

Going in to this meet I don’t think it was a matter of what Jon would win, it was a matter of what performance he would amaze us with next. He didn’t disappoint with a 6’8 win in high jump and a 22’6.6” leap in long jump. Triple jump led to a surprise though. I was on my way down to watch the last event of the day and the FNP’s own Josh Smith stopped me and told me that my jumper Brock Chapman jumped 45’6. misheard him and thought he said Jon had that jump. I wasn’t terribly surprised by a jump like that for Jon but was shocked when I heard that it was in fact Brock with that jump.

Jon still had two jumps remaining though. On his third jump he took off about 2 feet behind the board and came up with a 43’ jump and then on his last jump he nearly pulled out the win with a jump of 46’4”, still about a foot behind the board. Both Brock and Jon return next year so continue to look for big things from the both of them.

In the end the Thomas Johnson girls won their third straight county title and the Middletown boys picked up the win. At the JV Championship on Saturday both teams won the respective JV meets.

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