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Battlefield girls take 10 golds at home track meet
Battlefield continued to make its case for why the school will be a force at the regional playoffs this year as the girls’ indoor track team brought in 10 first place finishes and the boys’ eight at a home meet last Wednesday in Haymarket.
While the Osbourn Park girls’ team is still the local powerhouse and defending district champions, some of the Yellow Jackets’ key runners were absent last week, making for a lopsided showing in Battlefield’s favor through 14 events.
Seven Bobcat girls won individual events with Dominique Evans taking in titles for the long jump (16’03”) and triple jump (31’06”). Her leaps also qualified her for regions and she can expect between nine and 13 of her teammates to be there too, according to Battlefield coach Paul Mobley.
Some, like senior Kim Blaylock, have already clinched state births.
Mobley noted Blaylock’s run of 7.12 seconds in the 55 meter dash two weeks ago at the Montgomery Invitational not only set a school records but also put her in the among the best in the state.
“She’s actually become more focused,” the coach said of Blaylock. “She’s able to analyze her races herself and she can come back and we can talk about it.”
Even though the 55 meter dash is over in less than eight seconds, there are different phases to the race. Blaylock and Mobley have managed to identify the 17-year-old’s strengths and weaknesses during those phases and, in doing so, the coach mentioned that her 7.12 run actually came after a slower start than she had previously run.
That “can leave you to believe that she can still run faster,” said Mobley.
Blaylock stepped aside from the 55 meter dash last week, allowing Battlefield sophomore Genevieve Johnson to win with a 7.74 sprint time, which was just 0.2 seconds faster than her second-place teammate Nikkisha Walker. Blaylock instead captured the 300 meter dash (45.04) and both she and Johnson contributed to the girls’ 4x200 meter relay victory (1:53.34) along with Marina Capalbo and Jenna Irvin. Their only competition for that event though came from Liberty’s “A” squad and Battlefield’s “B” squad.
The 4x200 meter relay team, which generally consists of Blaylock, Johnson and sophomores Maria Bruno and Ivy Mumo, is expected to be one of four or five state qualifiers for Battlefield this season, Mobley stated. Blaylock (55 meter dash), Elizabeth Walls (3,200 meter run) and Diana Budreika (1,600 meter run) either have or should qualify for states, he said. Ali Shaughnessy is right on the bubble too for the 500 meter dash, according to Mobley. The freshman won the event Jan 16 (1:24.54) after topping Osbourn’s Megan Burtch by 1.6 seconds.
What impresses Mobley is Shaughnessy’s times have been competitive with that of the Osbourn Park seniors. Other freshmen like Shannon Anderson and Bria Beise have already set school records in the high jump (4-08) and pole vault (8-00), respectively, and are on their way to regions.
Once the Osbourn Park seniors graduate, “I think the Battlefield girls will then step up to the lime light,” said Mobley, though he made sure to note that OP has already picked up standout freshmen of its own.
Budreika set a school record of her own in the 1,600 meter run (5:49.84) and finished only behind OP’s Natalie Geleta and Kalya Tyrrell last week. Though some of her teammates grabbed the attention during cross country season by finishing in the top 15 at states, Budreika quietly earned a state birth of her own and has been competitive in both indoor and outdoor track to boot.
At the outdoor regionals last year, Budreika salvaged her first state birth in the 1,600 meter run.
Mobley recalled the then-sophomore jumping up and down in glee which put a smile on the coach’s face too.
“I don’t smile a whole lot with the girls but when they come up to me and I’m smiling, they know they’ve done real well,” Mobley said.
Battlefield will have a natural advantage at the Cedar Run District championship next month as the Bobcats will be the host team. As of Monday, the official date for the meet had not been scheduled though it will be some time between Feb. 5 and 17.
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