NWD Girls' Track and Field

WINCHESTER — Apparently, a basketball court isn’t the only place where Millbrook junior Jada Arrington can run and jump with great success.

In her first time competing in the long jump since middle school, Arrington captured the event with a mark of 16 feet, 1.25 inches at Friday’s Northwestern District track & field meet at Millbrook High School.

Arrington won both of the events she competed in. The victory in the 400 by the 2023 Class 4 bronze medalist in that event was no surprise, though it was by no means a guarantee considering one of the people she was running against. Given her athleticism, Arrington’s victory in the long jump wasn’t a shock either, but it is a bit of leap to expect anyone to achieve immediate success in something after a three-year hiatus, no matter what it is.

Arrington has been working on the long jump in practice for only two weeks.

“My coach just put me in it because he thought I could do good in it and jump 16,” said Arrington while she caught her breath after winning the 400 in 58.39 seconds. “So that’s what I did.”

Arrington’s two wins led Millbrook to sixth out of 12 teams at the Northwestern District meet, which is no longer a postseason meet. Kettle Run won with 106 points and Sherando (three event wins) and Fauquier tied for second with 99. James Wood (three event wins) placed fourth (85), Millbrook scored 70 points, and double winner Emeryce Worrell led Handley to seventh place (44 points).

Arrington said it was a struggle at first to get acclimated to the long jump again — she hadn’t done it since middle school — but she’s seen improvement during practice. She had a top mark of 16-2 coming in.

Because Arrington didn’t have any performance record in the event, she was placed in the first of two flights and wasn’t able to compete against the best jumpers. Four people had seed marks of 16 feet or better in the second flight. Arrington was hoping she did enough to win, and the best anyone could muster in the second flight was a 15-8.

Millbrook coach Jamie McCarty thought the long jump could be something that Arrington — also an All-State runner in the 100 and 200 — could add to her arsenal. Despite her success Friday, the long jump might not necessarily be something she competes in at the Region 4D meet on May 21 at George Washington High School in Danville.

“To come out in her first meet and jump 16-1, we’re pretty pleased with that,” McCarty said. “She thinks there’s more in there, and we think there’s more in there. Prepping her for her senior year, it gives her a legitimate four events where she can be a threat in.

“We’ll probably enter her [for regionals this year] and see what it looks like with the time schedule and how everything fits in there. We don’t want to work her to death.”

Despite Arrington’s status as the fastest returning 400 runner from last year’s state meet in Class 4, she did not have the fastest seed time in the event on Friday. That belonged to Fauquier senior Cassidy Scott, who has eight state titles in outdoor and indoor track since her sophomore year in the 800, 1,000 and 1,600. Scott — who will run for North Carolina next year — defeated Arrington at last year’s Region 4C meet when she chose to do a rare open 400 run, recording a 56.52 to Arrington’s 57.99.

Scott — who won the 1,600 earlier on Friday in 5:11.66 — was clearly tired for the 400, though. Arrington was in lane 3 and Scott was in lane 4, and Arrington had to pick up the pace when she realized Scott wasn’t going to challenge her like last year. Arrington — whose best time is 57.06 — wound up winning by 1.09 seconds in 58.39 over Brentsville’s Kayla Smith. Scott finished 10th in 1:05.58.

“I was pacing her, but I didn’t know she was not going to go [at the pace she’s capable of],” Arrington said. “I was going to push off her and try to beat her off the turn. Then I just had to start pushing to beat everybody else.”

Sherando is the healthiest it has been all season, and the Warriors showed their potential for success in the postseason. The Warriors were led by sophomore 300 hurdles champion Mercedes Silver and junior triple jump champion McKenna Hardy. Silver (second leg) and Hardy (anchor) also ran on the victorious 4x100 team with Kaiyah Mason (first leg) and Josie Willett (third leg).

Silver won the 300 hurdles by 1.48 seconds in 49.84, placed fourth in the high jump (4-8) and sixth in the 200 (27.90).

Silver is just grateful to be feeling well. She suffered a concussion when she hit her head on the bar competing in the high jump at the Class 4 indoor state meet and missed some early outdoor training. She said she really only began feeling like she did prior to the concussion in the week leading up to the district meet. Silver said she took a two-week break during the season, which she felt helped her both mentally and physically.

“I’m just very proud of myself,” said Silver when asked about winning the 300 hurdles. “I know all my hard work has paid off this season through all my struggles. It was really rough. But I just pushed through like I pushed through that race. I used all my energy.”

“She’s really coming along,” Sherando coach Brad Symons said. “I’m really proud of her.”

Silver was also pleased with the 4x100 team, which ran a season-best time of 51.40 to win by 1.19 seconds over Kettle Run.

“It was great,” Silver said. “We were so happy. It couldn’t have gone any better.”

The 4x100 team was in top form because the group now has Hardy back. Symons said she hadn’t competed since April 10 at the meet at James Wood’s Kelican Stadium that featured all five local high schools and still isn’t in peak shape for track. Hardy (33-1) won the triple jump by nine inches over Millbrook’s Keri Hecker (32-4), placed third in the long jump (15-7.5) and tied for seventh in the high jump (4-8).

“We’re young, and I think we’re coming along well as a team,” Symons said.

The Warriors were also led by Gracie Defibaugh (season-bests of 2:26.73 in the 800 and 5:18.93 in the 1,600, also a state-qualifying time, in taking second and third, respectively); Sarah Starling (second in discus, 99-4, second in shot put, 33-5); Addy Wallin (third in 3,200, season-best 12:33.90); and the 4x400 team (fifth in 4:37.72).

James Wood sophomore Kate Konyar started her day by giving the Colonels an insurmountable lead in the 4x800, running the first leg for a squad that won by 19.4 seconds in 10:11.61. The team also featured Ally Oliver, Claire Snell and Lauren Thompson.

Konyar ender her day by annihilating the 3,200 field as light rain fell. With no one pushing her, Konyar set a personal record with a time of 11:18.58, 1 minute and 4.64 seconds faster than the runner-up. Konyar collapsed to the grass after beating her best time by nearly two seconds.

“It’s a a good sign that people are starting to peak at the right time,” said James Wood coach Craig Woshner of Konyar and the 4x800 runners.

James Wood closed the meet with an impressive victory in the 4x400. The team of Ruby Ostrander, Katelyn Palmer, Megan Vreeland and Mallory Juvinall won by 3.66 seconds in 4:18.77.

The Colonels were also led by Palmer (third in 800, season-best 2:31.41); Erin Link (third in shot put, 32-10.25); Ostrander (fourth in 1,600, season-best 5:22.38); Oliver (fourth in 3,200, season-best 12:34.71); Isabelle French (fourth in 100 hurdles, 16.94); Olivia Boyce (fourth in long jump, 15-5); and Alina Kieffer (fifth in 1,600, season-best 5:22.39).

“We’re fairly well-balanced,” Woshner said. “We’ve been getting some points in all the event areas. All three or our shot putters scored points, we got some points out of our hurdlers today, and our relay teams ran really well.”

Millbrook was also led by Jillian Taylor (third in discus, 97-11, fifth in shot put, 31-4.25); Kamora Talley (fourth in 100 in season-best 12.98, fourth in 200, 27.60); Janai Washington (fourth in 400, season-best 1:01.61, fourth in high jump, 4-8); Caydence Bayne (fourth in 300 hurdles, season-best 52.08); Savannah Florek (fifth in 400, season-best 1:01.89); and Caroline McCurry (fifth in 3,200, season-best 12:40.11).

“I thought we had a lot of kids who competed well,” McCarty said. “We didn’t run it like a full-blown championship. We were looking at it as a meet to try and get qualifying times and try and change some heats that we might be in at regionals. I felt like we were pretty solid all-around.”

Handley’s Worrell didn’t have Arrington to push her in the 100 and 200, but Class 3 Brentsville’s Smith provided good competition. Worrell won the 100 in a season-best time of 12.20 to Smith’s 12.38 and captured the 200 with a 25.51 to Smith’s 25.76. Worrell suffered a rare defeat in the 100 at the Apple Blossom Invitational to Arrington on April 27.

“I ran against Kayla at districts for indoor, so it was nice to see her again,” said Worrell, the Class 4 state indoor champion in the 60 and 300. “That was great to see [my time in the 100]. After my performance two weeks ago, this helps me build my confidence, and hopefully, I just continue to get better.”

Handley coach Mike McKiernan liked what he saw from Worrell in the 100 and 200, and was pleased to see freshman Elisabeth Pitcock qualify for the state meet with a mark of 5-0 in the high jump. Pitcock tied for the top mark in the meet but took second to Warren County’s Ava Dickerson as a result of needing more attempts to clear the bar in the competition. Also for Handley, Amaya Smith took third in the triple jump (31-11) and the 4x100 team took fifth (53.25).

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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