McLaughlin’s career is just starting to jump
RIDLEY TWP. — Try as he might, Ridley girls track coach Greg Stanzcuk could not get Valerie McLaughlin to take the sport seriously as a sophomore and into her junior year.
Heck, it took three of her friends, Lydia Garay, Maddy Moore and Brittany Shields, to convince McLaughlin to come out for the indoor track team as a junior, and that wasn’t until Thanksgiving in 2013.
All of the sudden, though, things changed.
The young lady who never said a word and occasionally missed practice has developed into an exemplary team leader and one of the most versatile athletes in the county.
So what changed? What make McLaughlin take a sport she considered “a hobby’ more seriously?
One factor was maturity. With the graduation of Garay and Shields, McLaughlin knew someone had to step in and fill the leadership role they provided last year.
“I didn’t want to take leadership,’ McLaughlin said. “I’d rather cruise and just listen, but I knew I couldn’t do that.’
The other component was success.
“We wound up making states and then we went to nationals,’ McLaughlin said. “That’s when I realized how much better I could get if I worked at it.’
That would be the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association indoor state championship meet in March and the New Balance outdoor nationals in June. McLaughlin, along with Garay, Moore and Shields, running as the Fantastic Four track club, finished 16th in the 4 x 200-meter relay and set the school record with a time of 1 minute, 44.85 seconds.
Since then, McLaughlin has set the school record in the long jump (18 feet, 6 inches) and is closing in on the 100- and 200-meter marks, both of which are held by Sam Smarkola.
The leap of 18-6 at the Rustin Invitational, which is tied for fourth best in the state according to pa.milesplit.com, earned McLaughlin a ticket to the Penn Relays, which kicks into high gear Thursday. She is the first Ridley female to compete in an invitational at the Relays since Joylyn Brown placed eighth in the shot put in 1994, according to Stanzcuk.
“I’m excited and I’m nervous at the same time,’ Mclaughlin said of competing at Penn in an individual event. “I never thought long jump would be the event. It’s probably my worst event. I did it a few times, but I didn’t think anything about it because Maddy is our best jumper.’
And then she qualified for the indoor state championships last month and finished 12th, but it was the leap of 18-6 at Rustin April 1 that caught her and Stanczuk by surprise.
“I was like, ‘˜Wait, did they measure that right?” McLaughlin said. “That’s what I was thinking. Maddy and Stan (Stanczuk) where standing on the other side of the fence watching. Stan got so happy that he threw his clipboard at Maddy by accident. His papers went everywhere. I asked if they measured it right and they showed me the tape.’
“It was amazing,’ Stanczuk said. “I think that showed just how good she can be.’
It was McLaughlin’s second of four straight wins in the long jump. She also finished first at the Haverford Invitational (16-10), the Delco Relays (16-10) and the R. Joseph Kellerman Relays ((17-5 ¾). She has used that leap and victory as a guide to get better.
“I know I have to do more driving,’ McLaughlin said. “I don’t really drive much. I have to learn how to not stomp my feet down. That’s what I do. I have to settle down with it instead of stomping into the ground.’
That’s all part of the growth process that has helped McLaughlin become one of the more versatile athletes in the county, one good enough to compete in an individual event at the Penn Relays, something she did not think was possible a year ago.
“I wasn’t good enough,’ McLaughlin said.
She is now.
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McLaughlin is one of eighth Delco athletes competing in individual events at the Relays. Garnet Valley’s Nina Gambacorta is entered in the girls shot put. She ranks seventh in the state in the shot, according to pa.milesplit.com.
Cardinal O’Hara All-Delco Kevin James will take part in the boys 3,000-meter run Friday. All-Delco Evan Sing of Penncrest is in the javelin Friday. Sing just set the school record and has the second best throw in Pennsylvania with a heave of 202-4 at the Kellerman Relays. That’s No. 2 in the state and No. 5 nationally. Milton Jones of Glen Mills is in the shot put. His best put is 54-5, which is sixth best in the state. Strath Haven’s Colin Waitzman and Gurjeet Rai are in the pole vault Saturday. Waitzman is sixth in the state (14-0), while Rai is tied for 14th (13-6). Reggie Harris of The Haverford School is in the triple jump. His best this year is 43-11¼. However, Harris went 45-9½ to win the Delco championship last year.
The relays kick off at 9 a.m. with the college women’s discus. The running events begin at 10 a.m. with the college women’s 400-meter hurdles. The Villanova women go for their fourth straight title in the DMR at 5:30. That is the first Championship of America event at the Relays.
The Cardinal O’Hara girls are entered in the DMR, the only other COA event of the first day of the Relays. Strath Haven, Garnet Valley and Ridley are in the first high school relay events. Strath Haven is in the first heat of the girls small schools 4 x 800. Garnet Valley and Ridley are in the second heat of the large schools 4 x 8.
The boys high school events begin at 9:20 Friday morning with the 4 x 800 relays.
While the pools for the USA vs. World series have been announced the pairings for the for the three relays (4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400) have not. That won’t be released until Saturday.
