To States yet again

Senior Ashley Moorefield has always loved to run. As a kid, she asked people to chase her around just for fun. She competed in Argyle Middle School's annual "track challenges." And in her first season on the varsity level as a sophomore, Moorefield ran her way to the state competition.

Now, Moorefield competes in hurdle and relay events on the spring track team and has earned a reputation as one of the county's best runners, according to Coach James Short. Her qualification for the State Championships at the regional finals last week means that she will have been to States every year that she was on the team. Also, Moorefield has never lost a 4x4 relay in the regular season.

This year, Moorefield set two personal records: she clocked a stellar 47.59 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles and 60.9 seconds in the 400-meter dash at Regionals to qualify for States. Moorefield also qualified for States in the 4x2 and 4x1 relays. At the countywide Magruder Relays in March, she placed third in the 300-meter hurdles and second in the 4x4 relay.

School regulations prohibited Moorefield from playing sports her freshman year because she had transferred to Blair. In tenth grade, she played on the varsity basketball team, and she joined the track team that spring to "try something different."

Track may have been a new sport for Moorefield, but she soon found success. In her first season, she went to States for the 4x4 and 4x2 relays. She qualified for the state competition again last season with the relays, the 400-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles—an event new to her that year.

According to Moorefield, her early accomplishments with track pushed her to master her talent. "In my first season, I went to States with the relays," she remembers. "That motivated me to keep going back and working harder."

Short says that as a co-captain of the girls' team this season, Moorefield has led the Blazers with her positive attitude as well as her athletic achievements. "She's a winner," Short says. "She just makes a lot of contributions to our success." Moor-efield was also co-captain of the varsity basketball team this year.

Moorefield's success is due largely to her personal work ethic, says Short. "The fact that she wants to do better and be her best definitely propels her to be a top athlete," he says. Short also believes that Moorefield's hard work in the classroom, on the basketball court and on the track has prepared her for success in college.

Moorefield will attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall, where she plans to continue her track career.