Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Shericka Ward: All-Lake County Track & Field, May 7, 2007
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| Hubert O. Dabney Stadium, Home of Leesburg Lady Jackets Track and Field. |
Demps and Ward dominant on the track
ALL-LAKE COUNTY TRACK & FIELD
May 20, 2007|By Bryan App, Special to the Sentinel
Track wasn't their first love, but South Lake's Jeff Demps and Leesburg's Shericka Ward have made their mark in the sport with record-setting seasons.
Demps, who was the area's second-leading rusher in football last season, took first in the 100 meters finishing at the Class 2A state meet with a time of 10.77 seconds.
And in her second year running track, Ward, who played on Leesburg's state final four girls basketball team, broke four school records, three of which came at the state meet.
As juniors, both will return next season and, after a summer's worth of national competitions, should have a chance to add to their record collections.
"He's a humble person," South Lake Coach Chad Grabowski said of Demps. "He achieves these things and he doesn't show off. He just continues to strive to be the best. I definitely see him decreasing his time next year. With a little bit of work, he can be in the 10.2 range [in the 100]."
Demps' accomplishments on the track and the football field have earned offers from programs such as Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and Virginia Tech, Grabowksi said.
"All the big schools have already offered him," Grabowski said. "[Scouts] have been here all week and went to the spring game [Thursday]. And almost all have told him that if wants to run track [in college], he can do that also."
Ward hasn't received a scholarship offer yet, but Leesburg Coach Marshall Jungreis said considering the form and moxie she showed during her second year in the sport, he's confident one will come nextyear for his star hurdler.
"Last year when we went to a big meet, she was scared," Jungreis said. "Now she knows she belongs. With the culmination of her confidence and natural athletic ability, she still hasn't reached her full potential."
Last season, the hurdles on the track were as daunting as the bodies in the stands, Ward said.
"I walk awkward and I am very clumsy," she said. "So I didn't know about the hurdles."
The hurdles are now her favorite event, Ward said. She showed as much at the state meet, finishing in 44.88 for second in the 300 hurdles and claiming a time of 14.42 in the 100 hurdles prelims, both of which are school records.
Ward took fifth in the 100 hurdles final and placed sixth in the 100 meters after setting another school record with a 12.18 in the prelims. She also finished eighth in the triple jump at the state meet with a jump of 36 feet -- 5 inches short of the school mark -- and broke the school record in the 200 meters at the Bob Hayes Invitational in March.
Both Demps and Ward will continue to race during the summer first at the Golden South Meet at First Academy in June and then at the Nike Outdoor Championships at North Carolina A&T later that month.
There, Demps will face the nation's top runner in the 100 meters, Rynell Parson.
"I think that will help push him and show him where he stands because he hasn't had much competition all year," Grabowski said. "It will be good for him to see what he needs to work on."
Shericka Ward: Overcoming obstacles, May 10, 2007
ATHLETES - THIS WEEK'S BEST - OVERALL GIRL: Shericka Ward, Leesburg track and field
Shericka Ward didn't always have her heart set on being the best hurdler in Leesburg High School history. In fact, when she started running track as a sophomore last year, her plans were to run in the 100 meters, the 200 and the 4x100 relay. She thought she was too clumsy to be a hurdler.
But, Ward, a junior, already has proven to be the best girls hurdler in school history.
At last week's Class 3A Florida High School Athletic Association track meet at Showalter Field in Winter Park, Ward won medals in four events and broke school records in three of them -- the 100 hurdles (14.42 in the preliminaries), the 300 hurdles (44.88) and the 100 (12.18 in the preliminaries) -- and came within five inches of a fourth, jumping 36 feet in the triple jump.
Ward placed in the 300 hurdles (second), the 100 hurdles (fifth), in the 100 (sixth) and in the triple jump (eighth).
The performance helped soften the blow of Leesburg boys hurdler Sion Feliciano, who failed to place in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles after aggravating a foot injury in the preliminaries.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Three BIG EAST Teams Place in Top 10 at ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, May 16, 2011
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| Shericka Ward Villanova University |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Three BIG EAST women’s teams placed in the top 10 at the 2011 ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Connecticut, the runner-up at the 2011 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships, led all BIG EAST teams in second with 65 points. Syracuse finished seventh with 30 points and Pittsburgh came in ninth with 27 points. Eight BIG EAST athletes claimed titles individually.
The Huskies finished second behind Duke, which tallied 73.75 points to take the team title. Connecticut was paced by senior Tynisha McMillan, who brought home first in two throwing events. McMillan won the shot put with a toss of 15.86 meters and the discus with a throw of 48.34 meters. Freshman Ilva Bikanova also grabbed an ECAC title in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.81 meters. Junior Meghan Cunningham and sophomore Whitney Holder also had top three finishes for the Huskies. Cunningham took third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:22.42, while Holder finished second in the long jump with a leap of 6.06 meters.
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Pan Am Juniors: Shericka Ward 4th 13.64, UF Athletes Do Well
By Jason Byrne / August 1, 2009 12:32 PM
Leesburg alum Shericka Ward took fourth place at the Pan American Junior Championship in Trinadad. The Villanova rising sophomore ran a time of 13.64. Some Florida Gators are doing well also. Gray Horn is currently in second place to the amazing Curtis Beach. Horn trails Beach 3886 to 3740. And Alisha Usery lead for a while, but settled for fourth place in the 400 with 54.33. More coverage: MileSplit US | USATF | National Scholastic
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Shericka Ward: Ward Earns All-America Honors, March 13, 2012
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| Shericka Ward earned first team All-America honors for her seventh place finish in the 60 meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships. |
Ward and Lipari Earn All-America Honors
Shericka Ward: Ward Comes in Seventh in 60 Meter Hurdles at NCAA Championships, March 13, 2012
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| Shericka Ward closed out a terrific indoor campaign with a seventh place finish in the 60 meter hurdles on Saturday night at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. |
Senior sprinter scores team points for Wildcats at national indoor meet
March 10, 2012
March 10, 2012
NAMPA, Idaho - Senior sprinter Shericka Ward (Leesburg, Fla.) had an official time of 8.16 in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles and came in seventh with a terrific effort at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Jackson Indoor Track on Saturday evening. Ward scored two team points for Villanova with her finish one night after qualifying for the finals with a personal best time.
Ward and Jasmin Stowers of Louisiana State each had an official time of 8.16 and Ward finished seventh with a time that was three thousandths of a second faster. Her time at the finish line was 8.151 and was only one thousandth of a second away from officially being another personal best.
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Saturday, March 10, 2012
Leesburg's Shericka Ward Advances to NCAA Finals of 60 Meter Hurdles, March 10, 2012
Villanova senior runs third career best of season in semifinal heats on Friday night
March 9, 2012
NAMPA, Idaho--Senior sprinter Shericka Ward (Leesburg, Fla.) ran a personal best time in the 60 meter hurdles for the third time this season and advanced to the finals of the event at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday night. Ward finished fifth in her preliminary heat and is one of eight athletes that advanced to Saturday night's final.
The preliminaries on Friday at Jackson Indoor Track included two heats of eight sprinters each. The winner of each heat plus the next six fastest times moved on to the finals and Ward advanced on time with a career-best mark of 8.16 in the first of the two heats. Five of the eight qualifiers for the finals came from her heat.
Ward has now run a personal best time in the 60 meter hurdles in consecutive races. Last weekend she won the ECAC title in the event and ran a time of 8.18 in the finals after leading the field through the preliminary and semifinal heats. Prior to last weekend's competition her top time had been 8.25 at the Penn State National earlier this year.
The finals of the 60 meter hurdles will be run at 8:45 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night.
Also in competition for the Wildcats on Friday night was sophomore Emily Lipari (Greenvale, N.Y.), who ran in the preliminary heats of the Mile. She finished with a time of 4:46.66 in the first of two heats, placing seventh in her heat and 12th overall out of 16 runners.
Ward and Lipari both made their first individual appearances at the indoor NCAA Championships with their races this evening, although Lipari raced for Villanova on the team's national champion distance medley relay squad as a freshman last season. In their respective events Ward and Lipari were the only competitors from BIG EAST schools to have qualified for the national championships meet.
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