Bohemia Manor senior Brittany Wilson vaults to a 1A State Championship on Day 1 of the State Track & Field Meet at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Thursday.
Bohemia Manor's Ashley Jackson.
Bohemia Manor junior Brittany Wilson, right, won 1A State Championship for pole vault on Day 1 of the State Track & Field Meet at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Thursday.
BALTIMORE – Bohemia Manor pole vaulter Brittany Wilson’s pre-jump routine is nothing if not deliberate. The senior visualizes the jump, often spending up to a minute going over what she needs to do before leaning back and rocketing down the runway.
“‘Vault like a state champion’ is always the last thing I say,” she said. “I try to build myself up and get all the doubt out of my head. I just yell it to myself until I believe it.”
Wilson will no longer have to convince herself – she now has the hardware to prove it after demolishing the competition in the 1A girls’ pole vault, clearing a personal-best height of 10 feet, 3 inches during the State Track & Field Meet at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Thursday.
After Wilson locked up the title, she let out a championship-caliber scream of joy to punctuate the victory.
“When I cleared 10 (feet), I knew I had it,” she said. “I’m just extremely happy right now.”
Wilson’s triumph was actually the Eagles’ second of the day. Junior Ashley Jackson opened the meet by cruising to an emphatic win in the girls’ triple jump, leaping 33-6.5 to prevail by more than a foot.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” she said. “I haven’t triple jumped ever before this year. I was just naturally really good at it. It’s crazy.”
The two victories highlighted an impressive day by county teams at the 1A and 2A State Track Meets at Morgan State in Baltimore on Thursday.
Brian Matthews also claimed an individual state title in the 1A boys’ long jump, leaping 21-9 to edge Overlea’s Guillermo Simmons by half an inch. The Perryville junior also placed second in the 1A boys’ high jump (6-0), while teammate Darryl Johnson finished third in the shot put (49-6.5). Joe Peaker added a fourth-place long jump result for the Panthers, who finished the day with a 19-point lead in the boys’ standings after compiling 43 points. A victory Saturday would mark the first team state championship for Perryville in any sport since 1954. Panthers junior Kaylee Haberkam took third in the girls’ 3,200, finishing in 11 minutes, 52.47 seconds, while Bo Manor’s Diana Curtis took fifth and Emily Cornieles placed eighth.
Rising Sun senior Austin McGinley earned runner-up honors in the 2A boys’ 3,200, crossing the line in 9:31.34.
North East senior D’Nique Phillip and Perryville senior Karl Palmer both easily cruised into a pair of sprint finals, with Phillip recording the top times in the girls’ 2A 100 and 200 prelims and Palmer also qualifying in the 100 and 200 for the 1A boys’ competition.
“I always love running on Morgan State’s surface because it’s such a fast track,” Palmer said. “I was definitely confident. I wanted to wish my competition good luck, and I just flew off from there.”
Chris Bennett scored for the Elkton boys in the 2A high jump, placing seventh with a height of 5-10.
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Brittany is a Senior
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