(May 20, 2009) - In this weekend's action, Special Forces performed well at the Firebird Invitational in Clarksburg , Maryland. Led by flyers Jessica Rolle and harrier Jackie Deffer, the Force finished first in the 100 meters and 1500 meters with impressive times. Breaking former Special Forces member and current UVA sprinter Jennifer Weatherly's record in the 100 meters, Rolle blazed to a 12.7 finish after winning the semi-finals with a blistering 12.4 in the 100 meters. Deffer performed well taking Gold with 5.23 in the 1500m. Other top performances were turned in by Jordan Harvey, Tessa Nester, Darron Coley, Shalaya Fields, Duncan Mclean, Quentin Reynolds and Jake Teves.
Special Forces continued the next day with stellar performances at the Hershey local qualifiers at Heritage High school. Qualifying 17 out 21 competitors, the Force swept the 100, 200, long jump and 400 and the 13-14 year old divisions for both male and female. They were led by double winners Rassaun Goldring and Quintin Reynolds. For the ladies, Cat Wyatt and Jordan Harvey topped the 100 and 200 meters. Setting a new 50 meter team record at the younger divisions, triple winner Mark Melbourne flew to a 7.6 in the 50 meters, a gold in the long jump and a 30 second 200 meter win. Alexis Vaughn, Nick Smith, Nick Arnold, Gabby Kijewski, Coley, and Fields, dominated the 11-12 year old sprints while Teves, Slebrch, Nester had impressive finishes in the 1600 meters, 800 meters and softball throw.
Note: Although the high schoolers don't reunite with Special Forces until the summer. The Force has performed well at the districts as Heritage sprinters Shaquera Leach and Hanna McLaughlin led the Pride to victory in the Dulles District. Sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers Adrian Thomas, Andre Best, Brittany Schank from Stone Bridge, Vincent Brown and Adrian Vaughn led South Lakes to blazing records while Britt Savage and Eric Saleh led Flint Hill at the private school level in Richmond while receiving the Most Valuable Performers for Flint Hill. Brown set a new Liberty district records in both hurdles while Saleh blazed to 21.6 in the 200 meters at the private school championships. Brown and Saleh, both seniors will be running at Southern University and UCLA respectively upon completion of the year. The underclassmen will return to compete for Special Forces for USATF Championships upon completion of High School States in mid-June.
