Photo by Adrian Hood, Sr.
Vote for the girls track performer of the week from January 2nd to January 7th! Frederick Douglass' Malia Watkins is only a sophomore but she opted to run the varsity sections of the 55 and 300 dashes at Thursday's PG County Invitational. It did not matter which section she ran in - she would have won either. She dropped a personal best of 7.28 in the prelims and won the finals, and she also picked up the win in the 300 with a personal best time of 40.96 - the best time in PG County so far this season.
It appears that Oakdale has another star freshman on their hands in Lauren Leatherman who debuted on Friday at the Smithsburg Invitational. She picked up a win in the 800 running 2:25.18, good enough for 13th in the state - and tops among freshmen this season. Leatherman wasn't done, however, because she came back with a runner-up effort in the high jump. She cleared five feet which tied her for second among Maryland freshmen so far this winter.
Riverdale Baptist senior threw a two-foot personal best in the shot put at Wednesday's DCIAA Invitational. Having thrown a personal best of 37'1.50 earlier this year at the Howard County Winterfest, Chambers unleashed a winning throw of 39'1. Her throw was the fourth-best in Maryland this indoor season, and the top among private schools.
Baltimore Poly senior Nadia Hackett was one of many Marylanders who enjoyed good days at the Hispanic Games in New York City this past weekend. Hackett finished fourth in the Invitational section of the 400 at 59.80, but her best performance of the weekend came in the 55 hurdle finals. She clocked a personal best time of 8.24, a personal best by nearly two tenths of a second and placing her fifth on the state leaderboard.
Both South River's Hannah McGlynn and Bennett's Ashley Woolfork had strong multi-event performances this past week. McGlynn won both the 500 and 800 at AACPS vs. Howard #1, and her 800 time of 2:25.18 is the top mark in Anne Arundel County this year. Woolfork won the 300 at Bayside League Meet #3 with a solid Snow Hill Rec Center time of 43.63. Woolfork also finished a close second in the 500 (1:25.60) and the long jump (16'8.50).
Voting ends at 10 PM on Saturday, January 14th!