Milford's Brianna Corron won the long jump at Saturday's Class I meet.
NORTHWOOD – Brianna Corron had plenty of reason to be nervous heading into the Class I track and field championship meet on Saturday at Coe-Brown Academy.
One of the biggest meets of the outdoor season hadn’t always been kind to the Milford High School senior.
As a freshman, Corron false started in the 4×100-meter relay, getting her Spartan team disqualified.
Last year, as a junior and one of the top seeds in the 100, Corron stumbled and fell just before the finish line in the prelims. Not only did she miss out on the 100 final – and potential points for Milford – the fall affected her in the long jump, where she finished second.
So when Corron stood near the long jump runway late during Saturday’s meet, having won both the 100 and the long jump, there were a number of emotions running their own race through her mind.
“I’m ecstatic,” she said. “I’m really pleased, not only for myself, but coming in first means a lot for the team. I feel awesome. It was a really rewarding feeling.”
Despite Corron being seeded high in both events, Milford coach Mike Wright didn’t expect her to win both.
“Not the 100, that came out of nowhere,” he said. “It’s awesome. Last year, she stumbled in the 100 and didn’t make the finals, and she was one of the top four seeds. Because of that, she lost the long jump. As a freshman, she false started in the relay, and we had the No. 1 or 2 ranked relay that year.”
In the 100, Corron ran a 12.8 to edge out the Lebanon duo of Cathy Liebowitz and Becca Valente. All three were seeded close together before the race.
“To have runners like Becca and Cathy from Lebanon, they were pushing me,” Corron said. “I started off (high school) running with Mel Forte, and she always was pushing me. To have someone better than me, pushing me all four years of high school, and finally with the hard work it came out.”
Corron’s winning leap of 16-2¼ in the long jump came in the first round of competition, which turned out to be important during the finals.
After running the 200, Corron returned to the long jump with tired legs and her steps were off. Following her first jump of the finals, she got up favoring one leg.
“My hamstring happened to be tight and hurting,” she said. “It was definitely tight, and it was after the 200 and my steps were a little off, I was feeling a little different and tired.”
Jumping last, Corron was able to wait as the rest of the field went through its third and final jump. When no one had leaped further – Kennett’s Liza Townsend finished second with a jump that was half an inch shorter – Corron decided not to take her final jump and called it a day.
“I was nervous (going in),” she said. “The thing is, I’ve seen the absolute highs of track, and the absolute lows of track. I prepared well all week, rested all week. I didn’t practice too much. I learned a lot from (track). Track has taught me more about life than a lot of other experiences.”
Corron will have at least one more high school meet, having qualified for the Meet of Champions on June 5 at 2:30 p.m. at Merrimack High School.