HARRISONBURG — About the only thing that moved faster than EJ Mullins on Tuesday was the Eastern Mennonite University scoreboard.
Competing in the Region 4D outdoor track & field meet for the first time in her career, the Handley High School junior ran the fastest 4×800- and 4×400-meter splits of anyone in the meet to help both Judges relays qualify for the Class 4 state meet.
In between, she ran a personal-best open 400 time time of 56.11 seconds to win by 64 hundredths of a second. Her 4×400 anchor leg would be even faster, with Mullins finishing in 55.94 seconds to move Handley from third place to second place in the meet-concluding relay.
Mullins’ three 4×400 teammates — Reagan Edsell, Keila De La O Granado and Janiyah Ferris — wanted Mullins to take a photo with them with their season-best time of 4:08.71 in the background. Mullins was doubled over and catching her breath at the time of the request, but she straightened up and joined them. But just as head coach Lloyd Phillips was about to take a group photograph with his phone, the scoreboard shifted to the seeds for the boys’ 4×400 relay.
On a day with sometimes significant rainfall that made it difficult for a lot of athletes to perform their best, it was the only moment that didn’t go perfectly for Mullins, who missed the region meet her first two years of high school because of injuries.
“I feel like I’ve finally hit a breaking point where I’m not convincing myself that I can be great,” Mullins said. “I need to believe in it. I feel like I started believing in myself this year.”
Mullins was one of two local girls’ champions in the always arduous Region 4D. Two-time defending Class 4 state champion Blacksburg dominated the 15-school region with 198 points, with Charlottesville taking second with 192. The rest of the field included James Wood (third, 70 points), Millbrook (sixth, 39), Handley (seventh, 38) and Sherando (ninth), with defending Class 4 outdoor high jump champion Janai Washington of Millbrook taking that event for the other local title.
The top four finishers in each event on Tuesday and those with state-qualifying times and marks this season advanced to the Class 4 state meet at Liberty University in Lynchburg on June 5 and 6.
Handley was not in position to make the state meet in the 4×800 when Mullins received the baton as the anchor leg in the Judges’ first time doing the event this year. Mullins — who ran a 2:25.16 in her only open 800 of the year earlier this season and a 2:21.23 in the 800 last year — made sure Handley could celebrate when it was over.
With a sizzling leg of 2:17.86, Mullins moved Handley from fifth place to third place with a time of 10:01.26, almost six seconds faster than Blacksburg and seven seconds faster than Salem. Mullins was 2.27 seconds behind Salem when she received the baton.
Handley’s 4×400 team was in third when Mullins received the baton as the anchor leg, and she put an exclamation point on her day with her 55.94-second split to move the Judges past James Wood and into second place. Tuesday marked just the second time all season Handley entered the 4×400, with the Northwestern District meet 10 days prior (4:12.69) the first.
Junior Audrey Rinker, senior Ella Warren and freshman Ellie Miller also ran on the 4×800 team. On the 4×400, Edsell and Ferris are seniors and De La O Granado is a junior. Edsell — a two-time All-State basketball selection and third-year Judge — will now get to compete at the state level for the first time while at Handley after the Judges lost three straight years to Charlottesville in the Region 4D basketball semifinals.
“The seniors are going through my head this year,” said Mullins of her motivation for the relays on Tuesday. “We got to go to states for our senior Ella in the 4×8, and then Reagan and Janiya also get to go to states.”
As good as Mullins is on relays and in the open 800, it’s the open 400 and 200 — which she didn’t compete in on Tuesday — where Mullins has consistently made a huge impact this year.
On Tuesday in the 400, Mullins came in with a seed time of 56.50, just ahead of Charlottesville’s Juliana Pierce (56.73). Running in lane 4, Mullins made up the stagger on Pierce (lane 5) within 125 meters. Mullins then looked comfortable and powerful while maintaining her lead for the rest of the race, while Pierce’s face showed noticeable strain while finishing in a stellar 56.75, 0.64 behind Mullins.
“I took a risk and went all out, and then I was able to hold it,” Mullins said. “This is the strongest I’ve felt, and I hope to keep it for states.”
Only one person at last year’s state meet — defending state champion Adriana Mapp of Manor — ran faster than 56.11 in the 400. Now a sophomore, Manor’s PR this season is 55.62. Mullins’ top time in the 200 this year is 24.90, a time topped by only person at last year’s state meet. Defending state champion and Blacksburg junior Tamoy Douglas’ speed was on display again Tuesday, as she ran a 24.70 to win.
Time will tell just how well Mullins does in Lynchburg, but she’ll be going to the Class 4 meet with plenty of momentum.
“Last week, I thought districts was her best meet, and then today, she just one-upped it,” Phillips said. “She’s been doing really well. I’m proud of her. It’s good to see her healthy, physically and mentally. I’ve always told her the sky’s the limit. Anything’s possible with her.”
Philips was hoping the 4×100 team could qualify for states after winning the district meet, but they placed fifth in 51.20.
“I’m really proud of that group for stepping up and getting better this year,” Phillips said. “I think they’re going to do really well in the future.”
The James Wood girls are the only Winchester-Frederick County program that will send all three of its relay teams to the state meet.
The 4×800 team (Lauren Thompson, Ally Oliver, Vivian Porter, Kate Konyar) took second in 9:44.24, a 10-second improvement. The 4×100 team (Alexis Brown, Sierra-Nicole Wimer, Melanie Padilla, Isabelle French) also placed second (50.22) and were just 0.09 off their best time. The 4×400 squad (Grace Thompson, Wimer, Padilla, Reese Lessard) placed third in a season-best 4:10.17.
After being disappointed James Wood didn’t qualify for states for time by one second at the district meet, Konyar was pleased to see Wood blow that time away on Tuesday.
“We’ve just been improving like crazy,” Konyar said. “We’ve been cutting back on mileage, and I think that’s really helped, especially for short-distance events like the 800. We’ve been responding to the training really well. I’m really confident with what we can do at states.”
James Wood did so well that Konyar was able to hold back a bit. Konyar was hoping to run under five minutes in the 1,600 for the first time, but she wound up taking second in 5:04.85 to Pierce’s older sister Elaina, Class 4’s two-time defending state champion in that event (4:58.31 Tuesday).
Konyar — Class 4’s defending 3,200 champion — actually ran the first lap five-hundredths of a second faster than Pierce and came through the 800 a second behind in 2:30.42. But she couldn’t maintain the pace.
“It just wasn’t my day,” said Konyar, who figures her chances would of been better had she ran the race completely fresh.
In addition to the relays and Konyar, others who placed in the top four on Tuesday were French in the 100 hurdles (third, 16.48), Alina Kieffer (fourth in 3,200, 11:57.73) and Erin Link (fourth in shot put, 32-0.5).
The Colonels took second in Region 4D as a team last year, but James Wood coach Danielle Koelker liked what she saw from her squad Tuesday.
“I’m really happy with all the results,” Koelker said. “I’m just proud of them. Today was the day to bring their ‘A’ game, and they did it.”
Washington had the only top-four performance for Millbrook. Washington and Jefferson Forest’s Oluomachi Nwakor each cleared 5-2 in the high jump, but Washington won because she only needed one attempt at 5-2 while Nwakor needed two.
Washington almost anchored the 4×400 team to a state berth. The Pioneers were in fifth when she got the baton and put her team in fourth with 200 meters left. She then battled Jefferson Forest’s anchor leg in the final straightaway, but she ran out of steam with about 30 meters left. The Pioneers placed fifth in 4:14.36.
Washington ran one of the faster legs for any team (1:00.87) and was helped off the track by one of her teammates after her effort. Earlier, she placed fifth in the 200 and eighth in the 100.
“On a whole, I think she struggled a little bit today,” Millbrook coach Jamie McCarty said. “But she battled and gave us a chance there at the end. She gave us everything she had. We’ve got 10 days to get her healthy for the state meet. She’ll bounce back. She’s a tough kid.”
In addition to the 4×400, Millbrook senior Ella Mannarino — one of the 4×400 runners — missed qualifying for states in the 300 hurdles by 0.25 with a personal-record 49.61, and Kennedy McCullough missed qualifying for states in the discus by 2 feet, 5.5 inches (98-7.5). Each placed fifth.
“She got better every week,” said McCarty of Mannarino, whose soccer season ended less than two weeks prior. “And today, pouring down rain and running what she did to give herself a chance, and then she ran a great leg in the relay for us, that was impressive. That week of just being able to focus [on track], she was able to get herself together and give herself an opportunity.”
Millbrook’s Aubrey Steinmetz set a 20-second PR to place sixth in the 3,200 (12:08.87).
Mercedes Silver (third in 300 hurdles, 49.27), Emma Messick (third in discus, 104-2) and Kalysta Falls (fourth in 100 hurdles, 17.24) led the way for Sherando and will be making repeat trips to the state meet. Silver’s 300 performance comes after she crashed hard at the district meet after hitting a hurdle late in that event. Silver will also compete in the state meet in the high jump (5-0 on Tuesday to take fifth).
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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