WINCHESTER — Nearly half of the girls’ track & field records at the 82nd Handley Invitational have been set by Handley High School athletes, with most of them earning state championships in those events in their careers.
There’s some remarkable talent in Class 4 for the 400, so Judges junior EJ Mullins has work to do to win state gold. But breaking one of the three meet records that had stood since the 1980s on Saturday is a pretty strong step in the right direction.
Mullins repeated as Jimmy Omps Track MVP by capturing both the 200- and 400-meter races for the second straight year. This year’s sweep featured an added flourish — in winning the 400 in a personal-record time of 56.50 seconds, Mullins also broke the meet record of 56.8 set by Stonewall Jackson’s NeNe Hosby in 1987.
Mullins has battled injuries throughout her cross country and track career at Handley. She’s managed a lot of spectacular moments despite her ailments though, and Saturday was the latest example of how just how special she can be.
“I’ve had some shin splints, and and I’ve had [hamstring] issues all season,” Mullins said. “But I told [Coach Lloyd Phillps on Friday] that I’m going to be relevant today, and I got a meet record and a PR.”
Local athletes captured six of the 18 events on Saturday.
James Wood senior Kate Konyar came from behind with an incredible effort to win the girls’ invitational mile, and the 4×100 relay team was also victorious to lead the Colonels to a tie for third place out of 19 scoring teams with 56 points. Mountain Ridge (Maryland) also had 56 points. Loudoun Valley defended its meet title with 113 points and Tuscarora was second with 72.
Sherando placed fifth with 55 points and had two individual champions in senior Mercedes Silver (high jump) and sophomore Shelby Willett (long jump). Handley placed ninth with 34 points.
Last year, Mullins won the 400 by 2.92 seconds in 57.40. This year, she shattered her PR of 57.02 and won by 2.2 seconds over Mackenzie Withers of Potomac Falls. They were were the only two girls to break a minute on Saturday.
Mullins then finished her day with a time of 25.20 in the 200, just off her 25.15 from last year’s meet and her PR from last year (25.09).
Mullins said she always has a strong desire to perform well at Handley’s annual invitational.
“I definitely think being at my home meet helps boost my confidence,” Mullins said. “Also, wanting to win at my home meet, and show support for my school and represent my school, drives me a lot.”
With the graduation of state champion sprinter Emeryce Worrell, Mullins said she’s pushing herself more to go faster. Saturday showed she’s doing a good job of that.
“I came into this meet just wanting good form, and it all came together,” Mullins said. “I’m hoping if I can get my 200 split down, then my 400 will naturally go along with with it. I’m working on my stamina. Coach [Lloyd] Phillips has has been a really good coach, helping me through that this year in training workouts. Hopefully, I can place at states.”
As always, the key for Mullins is staying healthy. Because of a hamstring injury, she didn’t compete in the 200 at last year’s state meet, and she slowed down at end of the 400 before finishing last.
“We want her to confident,” Phillips said. “When she is confident, she is one of the best in the state. She can compete with anybody as long as she’s in the right headspace, and she’s healthy. We’ll keep working with her, and hopefully she can continue to drop her 400 and 200 times and give herself a shot in the postseason.”
Also for Handley, Bella Hines tied for second in the high jump (4-10), and the 4×100 team of Maliyah Hines, Leilah Ferrell, Monet Thomas and Jordan Coates took third in 51.55.
A year ago, James Wood’s Konyar placed seventh in the invitational mile in 5:13.92. Konyar was seeded seventh for this year’s 12-girl event with the same seed time, but it was clear heading into the last lap that she was going to finish higher this year. She was in second place, and only Tuscarora’s Catherine Moschera was in striking distance.
Tuscarora sophomore Christabel Agyeman-Duah was 30 meters ahead of the field at that point. The state runner-up in the 800 at last year’s outdoor meet and in the 1,000 at this year’s indoor meet, Agyeman-Duah was running at a steady pace and didn’t appear to be in danger of losing her lead.
Konyar — the defending outdoor state champion in the 3,200 — didn’t have a strategy or expectations for the mile. She was just going to push and see what happened.
At the start of the last lap, Konyar had a few meters of separation on Moschera, and they both started to pick up the pace.
“I was really shocked by how good I felt,” Konyar said. “I was like, ‘I might as well try and catch [Agyeman-Duah], because I feel pretty good.'”
Much to her teammates’ excitement, the hard-charging Konyar steadily closed the gap and passed Agyeman-Duah with 75 meters left. The effort was written all over Konyar’s face as she took the lead, and she continued to push once ahead because of Moschera.
“[When I took the lead], I was more worried about the girl that was behind me,” Konyar said. “So I was like, ‘You got [Agyeman-Duah], but you can’t give up once you get her. You’ve got to keep going.”
Konyar wound up leaving both Tuscarora runners in her dust. Konyar crossed the finish line in 5:04.17, 2.05 seconds ahead of Agyeman-Duah and 3.51 seconds ahead of Moschera.
Konyar’s time was more than nine seconds faster than last year. Converted to 1,600 meters it’s 5:02.41, more than seven seconds faster than she’s ever run indoor or outdoor.
Konyar placed sixth in the outdoor 1,600 last year. It’s hard for Konyar to truly do her best in the 1,600 at states, because it takes place after the 3,200 and during the afternoon, when the temperature is at its hottest. But Saturday showed Konyar has the potential to finish higher than last year if she feels strong enough.
“Me and my dad were saying, ‘We’re not milers. That’s kind of crazy,'” Konyar said. “It’s a huge confidence-booster. I definitely going to focus on the [1,600] a little more this season.”
James Wood coach Danielle Koelker knows Konyar can excel at whatever she puts her mind to.
“She’s been crushing the speed workouts we started doing,” Koelker said. “It’s still kind of a little early in the season, but for this point in the season, I was really impressed with what she was able to do in that mile. I think she impressed herself a little bit, too.”
Konyar also placed sixth in the 800 in 2:28.37.
James Wood’s 4×100 team of Alexis Brown, Sierra-Nicole Wimer, Melanie Padilla and Isabelle French won by 0.74 in 50.62. The Colonels were also led by Alina Kieffer (third in 1,600, 5:29.29); Erin Link (third in shot put, 32-0.5); the 4×800 relay team of Marley Savino, Isabella Posey, Grace Dawson and Ally Oliver (third in 10:55); and French, who took fourth in the long jump (16-0.50) and 100 hurdles (17.21).
“For this point in the season, I’m happy with where everyone is,” Koelker said. “We still have a little bit of work to. This is the first meet we’ve actually had nice weather, so some of them are still getting used to the heat a little bit.”
Silver won by two inches in the high jump (5-0) to defend her title, and she also took third in the triple jump (32-6.75) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (49.81). Willett won the long jump by 2.5 inches with a mark of 16-6.5. Sherando was also led by Kalysta Falls (second in 100 hurdles, 16.88, fifth in long jump, 15-10).
Loudoun Valley senior Sammi Gaylord won the shot put and discus to win Field MVP honors. She had a mark of 137-3 in the discus to win by 26-9, and a 41-2 in the shot to win by 8-7.
For more coverage of Saturday’s meet, see Tuesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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