400m-53.8 (2003)
800m-2:02.9 (2003)
1600m-4:52 (2003)
3200m-10:56 (2003)
3 miles-17:35 (2003)
5K-17:50 (2003)
5 miles-35:07 (2000)
I'm 18, and I've been running since about 7th grade, or since I was 12. I graduated from Loch Raven High School in Towson, MD. I was a decent runner in high school but our team was very good, especially for our classification. We were a 1A school and they go up to 4A as the largest. In 2002 we scored a perfect score at our regional meet en route to an unfortunate 1-point loss to our rivals Oakland Mills at the state championship. This was the closest 3-way battle ever with the final score being Oakland Mills 46, Loch Raven 47, Westmar 51. But it was pretty amazing. In the spring of 2003 out track team placed second, but a distant second to Oakland Mills again. 2003 was our year, as we lost only one runner for Cross Country and we won states in both Cross Country and Outdoor Track. It wasn't my best year due to a stress fracture in late September but I was able to rejoin the team two days before counties and I was eligible to compete in all three postseason meets. My highest finish ever at states was my senior year when I placed 13th. My best event in high school was the 800m and we fielded some decent 4X800 relay teams. I'm on the school record for indoor track (9:03) and outdoor track (8:24). Unfortunately, due to some conflicting academic issues, my parents did not allow me to compete in indoor or outdoor track my senior year.
Now I'm running by myself for the most part. I'll be attending Eastern University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but they do not have enough interest to field a team so far, so I'm not sure if I will be running for a team. I may transfer after my first semester to Grove City College in northern Pennsylvania and possibly run cross country and track for them. But for the time being, I'm having a lot of fun just running by myself and trying to work on different things, like perfecting my stride and breathing and visualization. If there's one thing I've learned so far it's that I'll never be an elite runner but I can still have a great time pretending to be one. I'm hoping to do marathons but I may wait until after college. Anyway, happy running!