Atholton senior Jen Bleakney has come a long way on the track since leaving the team as a freshman.
Growing up dominating on the Bermuda grass and turf playing field hockey, her time and effort was focused there. After all, the Howard County Times/Columbia Flier field hockey Player of the Year has committed to play that sport at Syracuse University, the NCAA Tournament runner-up.
"Every Tuesday I would miss practice because of field hockey, and eventually they kind of caught on," Bleakney said. "So they told me I had to choose one or the other."
Now, the Howard County Times/Columbia Flier indoor track Athlete of the Year says if she had to choose between the two sports, it wouldn't be such an easy choice.
Tasting success with state medals around her neck has motivated her to take the sport more seriously.
Splitting her time between the two hasn't been easy, though. During the track season when she is running about five miles per day at least six days a week in addition to meets, she is playing field hockey two or three days a week as well.
"They overlap a lot," she said. "It's really a seven-days-a-week thing."
Even after committing to play field hockey in college, Bleakney has dedicated herself to running all year long. She doesn't want to fall behind, so she runs everyday in the summer. Sometimes she runs to her tournaments, plays, then comes home and does an hour-long bike ride or runs six miles. It's all planned into her normal routine.
One would wonder where she finds time to be a teenager between it all.
"Yeah, surprisingly I do (find time)," she said with a laugh. "It doesn't seem like it, but I do."
It's that drive and motivation that sets her apart from other athletes that Atholton coach Ivan Alvarado has coached, he said. She simply wants to be the best at whatever she does.
"She might be the best package in regards to listening, doing the workouts, being self-motivated. She makes my job a whole lot easier," he said. "Just seeing where she's come from. I mean, as a sophomore, she was OK. But she's just put in a tremendous amount of work and every year she gets a little more engrained in the sport, and you can see the work ethic change over time. It's been beautiful to watch."
Coming into the indoor season, Bleakney seemed to be at a disadvantage. It's not a seamless transition into the new sport considering she had a week and a half between the end of field hockey and her first indoor meet. But all the work she puts in on top of field hockey paid off.
This season was one of Bleakney's best yet, even after going undefeated in the 1,600 and being named the outdoor track Athlete of the Year last spring.
She won the 800- and 1,600-meter races at the county and 3A East regional meets, setting a meet record (5:09.40) in the mile at the county championships. She was also on the 4x400-meter relay team that won at counties.
She saved her best for last, though. She ran her fastest time of the season (5:07.75) on her way to finishing second in the 1,600.
Then, she followed with an 800-meter run that could be remembered throughout county history. Her winning time of 2:18.90 broke a county indoor record that had stood for 34 years, and was the fourth-fastest time in the state.
"We knew coming in that (Franklin's Nyjari Mcneil) was no joke," Alvarado said. "We came in with a game plan, and I can't believe how well Jen executed the race. It was flawless. That performance that she gave told me a lot about her... I won't forget that for a while."
"My 800, I was not expecting that," Bleakney said. "I didn't know where that came from honestly, but I was blown away by that because that was the time I was running at outdoor states last year. The fact that I got that at indoor states just really proved to me that the work I was putting in was paying off."
With only one more outdoor season ahead of her, Bleakney says she is extremely motivated to go out on top. Alvarado said he can't wait to see what's in store.
"Yeah, she's on it right now. I think she's very dedicated at the moment," he said. "She knows the sharks that are awaiting her, and she definitely wants to repeat as a state champion in all the events she was in last year."
Also named to the all-county team:
Carly Albright, Marriotts Ridge
Events: 1,600- and 3,200-meter run
Postseason highlights: Finished third at the county championships (5:16.29), fourth at the 2A Central regional meet (5:34.09) and fifth at 2A states (5:16.59) in the 1,600-meters. Finished first at the county championships (11:17.97), first at regionals (11:52.22) and fourth at states (11:18.12) in the 3,200-meters.
Sophie Caplan, River Hill
Events: pole vault, high jump, long jump
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (10-6), first at the 3A East regional (10-10.25) and third at 3A states (11-0) in the pole vault. Finished second in the high jump (4-10) and long jump (15-7) at the county championships.
Trishna Clarke, Long Reach
Events: high jump, long jump, triple jump, 55-hurdles
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (5-0), first at the 3A East regional (4-11) and fourth at 3A states (5-0) in the high jump. Finished first in the triple jump (34-6.75) and third at the county championships (15-6.5) in the long jump. Finished sixth at the county championships (9.46) in the 55-meter hurdles.
Brit Lang, Oakland Mills
Events: 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meters
Postseason highlights: Finished second at the county championships (2:23.17), first at the 2A Central regional (2.29.80) and third at 2A states (2:22.41) in the 800-meters. Finished second at the county championships (5:11.35), first at regionals (5:19.19) and third at states (5:09.16) in the 1,600 meters. Finished second at regionals (12:14.25) in the 3,200-meters.
Micah Meekins, Marriotts Ridge
Events: 300-meter dash, 4x400 relay
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (41.06, meet record), second at the 2A Central regional (42.96) and second at 2A states (40.79) in the 300-meter dash. Part of 4x400 relay that finished fourth at county championships.
Isabelle Price, Atholton
Events: long jump, 4x400 relay
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (16-1.5) in the long jump. Was part of 4x400 relay team that finished first at the county championship (4:20.63) and third at the 3A East regional (4:29.44).
Taylor Scaife, Howard
Event: shot put
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (38-3), first at the 4A Central regional (40) and first at 4A states (41.7.5) in the shot put.
Taylor Selber, Long Reach
Events: 55-meter hurdles, 4x200 relay, 300-meter dash
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (8.74), third at the 3A East regional (8.82) and second at 3A states (8.49) in the 55-meter hurdles. Was part of 4x200 relay team that finished first at the county championships (1:47, meet record), second at regionals (1:53.28) and eighth at states (1:47.65). Finished eighth at county championships (43.8) in the 300-meter dash.
Taylor Williams, Long Reach
Events: 55- and 300-meter dash, 4x200 relay
Postseason highlights: Finished first at the county championships (7.25), third at 3A East regional (7.55) and third at 3A states (7.21) in the 55-meter dash. Finished third at the county championships (41.82) and fifth at regionals (44.78) in 300-meter dash. Was part of 4x200 relay team that finished first at the county championships (1:47, meet record), second at regionals (1:53.28) and eighth at states (1:47.65).
Lauren Wood, Oakland Mills
Events: 55-meter hurdles, high jump, 4x200 relay
Postseason highlights: Finished second at the county championships (9.06), first at 2A Central regional (9.33) and second at 2A states (8.76) in the 55-meter hurdles. Finished third at regionals (4-7) and sixth at states (4-10) in the high jump. Was part of 4x200 relay team that finished third at the county championships (1:49.51), second at regionals (1:54.39) and fourth at states (1:48.77).