Kirschling, Knoblock Go for Junior Olympic Gold This Weekend

For track and field, the center of the universe these days is London and the summer Olympics.

But back here in the United States, a pair of girls will get their own shot at glory in USA Track & Field’s Junior Olympics in Baltimore.

Recent grad Megan Kirschling and incoming senior Megan Knoblock will both compete in the finals at the Young Women’s division Saturday and Sunday, after Knoblock qualified for the 1,500 meters with a fifth-place finish in her heat Thursday.

Knoblock, in her West Deptford green, ran a 5:11.37—nearly seven seconds faster than her qualifying time at the regional level—to grab one of the 12 spots in the 1,500 finals, set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

She’ll have a challenge in front of her, with three girls going under 5 minutes in qualifying at Morgan State University.

Kirschling, meanwhile, will go after another high jump title, after breezing through regionals with a winning jump of 5-5.

She’ll face off against a field with just two girls who had to leap higher than that in regional qualifying—though neither of those two came near Kirschling’s best on the year of 5-10.5.

The high jump begins at 1 p.m. Saturday.