The Hood College women’s track & field team enters its fourth season of varsity competition with a strong nucleus of returning veterans and promising newcomers. “This is when having a start-up program is fun,” observed head coach Brent Ayer. “Almost every time out, athletes will have an opportunity to establish new records for Hood College.”
National qualifier and Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Athlete of the Year Jessica Parrish leads the returning athletes. At last year’s conference championships, she won the 100, the 200, the long jump, and the triple jump. Her winning time at 100-meters set a new CAC record. Also returning are all-CAC performers Jessica Stanley and Erica Hamor. Stanley earned honors in the 400 and Hamor in the javelin.
They are joined by junior Kayla Murphy, who scored in the throws, and sophomore Emma Arneson, who scored conference points in the hurdles and relays. The returners racked up 18 individual championships at various invitationals last season.
“This is our strongest women’s team ever,” said Ayer. “The returning athletes scored 70 of the 84 points we earned at the CAC championships and we have added several talented performers. We hope to substantially re-write our record book and to move up at least one place at the conference meet.”
Bolstering Ayer’s confidence are newcomers Megan Cahill, Jessica Talley, Nalla Tejera, Joanna Laboue, and Krista Zerby. Cahill was the Maryland State High School Indoor Champion in the pole vault and is also a solid hurdler and sprinter. Talley, a talented sprinter from nearby Tuscarora High School, gives Hood a potent 1-2 punch in the short sprints. Tejera’s high school marks in the shot put and discus would have ranked her near the top of the CAC last year. LaBoue, ran No. 2 for the Blazers in her first season of cross country, and Zerby has show early promise in the javelin and hammer.
Others who will be counted on to make contributions include Chandra Banks (throws), Erica Burgess (distance), Chloe Ey (jumps and sprints), Yvana Mingia (throws and sprints), Samantha Nieves (sprints, jumps, and hurdles) and Mollie Widdowson (sprints and hurdles).
“Assuming everyone stays healthy, we should be a force in all the field events and in most events on the track. Our goals for both the men’s & the women’s team are to move up one place at the CAC meet, to break 20 school outdoor records and to get a least two athletes to the NCAA Championship,” Ayer concluded.
Ayer will also rely heavily on the expertise of his three assistant coaches. Jack Griffin is a three-time U.S. Olympic coach and Ayer's first coach in college; former Frostburg State University coach Yi Lin Liu who coached 16 national qualifters; and Caitlin Whitman, a former sprinting specialist at Williamsport High School and Roanoke College.
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