Kirschling a Standout at West Deptford Relays

By the time West Deptford High School junior Megan Kirschling got to her featured event, the high jump, she had already put in quite a day's work at the 19th Annual West Deptford Relays.

Kirschling competed in a leg of the 3x400 intermediate hurdle relay (producing the fastest time in Group 2) and jogged over to the pole vault pit to get in a jump. Once she was done vaulting, she made her move to the high jump area, put her hands on her hips and took a few deep breaths.

“I was feeling little bit winded, but we had to wait around a little for a couple of teams to come so I got to settle my nerves a little bit, take a deep breath and really get back into the swing of track,” Kirschling said.

It was more than enough time for Kirschling to remind the rest of South Jersey how good she is at the high jump.

Kirschling cleared 5 feet, 4 inches—the highest in Group 2—to lead the three-girl team. Though she's by far the team’s best high jumper, she gave much of the credit to her teammates who were competing for the first time.

“We had Samantha Budd and Claudia Theriault, who had never jumped before, so we were really hoping they could make opening (height), and they both did on their first try, so I was just really excited about that,” said Kirschling. “I figured I would just go in and do the best I could.”

Kirschling was a state qualifier in the high jump last year and has a personal best of 5 feet, 7 inches. She is hoping to go higher this season, but was just happy to be able to compete in an actual meet on Saturday.

“I’m really just excited for the team to be able to compare (itself with other teams) because we didn’t even get to have our dual meet, because it got canceled,” Kirschling said. “It’s really a great chance to feel a little more comfortable at home, but also see what all the good meets will be and for all of the freshmen to see and understand the amount of pressure and people that are in the meets."

As a team West Deptford placed in fifth in Group 2, a strong showing from a team that had several question marks entering the season, according to head coach Mark Drummond.

“Being relatively inexperienced beyond my first few girls, I didn’t know what to expect, and they went above and beyond,” Drummond said.

He pointed out performances by Kirschling, Shannon Neary (2.24 split in 800 off distance medley) and Samantha Budd (1:02.1 in 400 portion of distance medley) as being standouts, while lauding the work from his two new high jumpers.

As a whole the event was looked at as a great success with 62 teams registered, well above the 45 that were expected. Four meet records were also established, two by Group 3 powerhouse Delsea.

“Obviously we got lucky with the weather today, so that was a big part of how things went from the beginning,” said Drummond with a laugh. “Last year was my first year doing it, and being the second time around, I think we ironed a few things out and made it smoother and better for the teams that came. I think they really enjoyed themselves.”