Two Kenwood Athletes Head to Junior Olympic Nationals

Over the weekend, two Kenwood Track and Field Athletes qualified to the United States Track and Field Junior Olympic Nationals held in North Carolina next week.  This meet was held at the PG Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Maryland.

Incoming Kenwood Juniors, Brianna Best and Karlina Bernadzikowski, competed against some of the best competition in their age group from Virginia and Maryland in order to qualify for the event.  The top five finishers in each event automatically qualify for Nationals.  Both Brianna and Karlina are part of the school's IB program.

Karlina Bernadzikowski competed first on Saturday in pole vault.  The starting height for this event at 1.80 meters as they rose the bar by 15 centimeters each time.  Karlina's first miss was at 2.40 meters which would have also been her career highest if she had made it.  With that in mind, Karlina cleared 2.25 meters and came in fifth place to qualify for Nationals.

Brianna Best competed after Karlina on Saturday in long jump.  Brianna currently holds the Kenwood school record with an impressive 17 feet 4 inch jump during the 4A North Regionals held at Kenwood last May.  Brianna was able to qualify into the finals of the event with a 4.72 meter jump.  However, Brianna was in 9th place going into her last jump.  Knowing this was her last attempt, Brianna needed to do something really special in order to finish in the top five.  During this last jump, Brianna hit her spot on the board and soared from 9th to 3rd overall with a 4.94 meter jump and qualifying for Nationals. 

Kenwood Cross County and Track and Field Coach, Mark Planamente, was also present at the meet.  He was very proud to have both athletes compete as well as the did and represent Kenwood at the National level.  He also commented that this would be great exposure for Brianna and Karlina as many college recruiters would be present at this meet.

Karlina will compete on Thursday, July 25th and Brianna will compete on Friday, July 26th.