Meet the HCC athletes competing at the NJCAA Division I Track & Field Championships

Here are the six Hagerstown Community College athletes who are set to compete at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships this week in West Monroe, Louisiana, where the top eight finishers in each event earn medals and All-American honors.

Gabby Cook

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Hagerstown

Event: Women's high jump (Friday)

Personal best: 5 feet, 9 3/4 inches (school record)

Seed for the meet: First

Notes: Cook, a 2022 Boonsboro graduate, won the NJCAA title in the high jump indoors this year at 5-8, becoming HCC's first national champion since 2013. She was the Maryland 1A state runner-up in the event as a senior for the Warriors at 5-0.

National champ: HCC's Gabby Cook soars to NJCAA title

Goal for nationals: "My goal for nationals is just to do better than the last one," Cook said. "I really want to jump a new PR to conclude the season at HCC. The goal height-wise definitely would be 1.80 meters (5 feet, 10 3/4 inches)."

Coach's outlook: "Gabby has a chance to do something very rare, win two national championships," said HCC jumps coach Andy Reid. "She's ready to do it. She's confident. But she's going to have to jump well. It's not any easy thing to win one, much less two. She's the top seed, so she's the favorite, but only by a centimeter."

Mikaila Ek

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

Event: Women's pole vault (Thursday)

Personal best: 11 feet, 7 3/4 inches (school record)

Seed for the meet: Sixth

Notes: Ek placed third at the NJCAA indoor championships this year at 11-2 1/4, breaking her own indoor school record. She then set the outdoor school record at 11-7 3/4 on April 20 at the Hopkins Loyola Invitational. Ek placed fourth at outdoor nationals last spring.

Goal for nationals: "I definitely want to get 12 feet. That is my height goal," Ek said. "I want to jump high. Second place would be awesome."

Coach's outlook: "She's getting ready to PR again," Reid said. "We just got her on another pole that should help her PR. She's physically ready, and she's mentally ready."

Perfect fit: New HCC athletic director Amy Sterner is in her natural habitat with the Hawks

Brayden Ecker

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Frederick, Md.

Event: Men's pole vault (Thursday)

Personal best: 15 feet, 9 inches (school record)

Seed for the meet: Tied for fifth

Notes: Ecker placed fifth at the NJCAA indoor championships this year at 15-4 1/2, setting an indoor school record. He then set the outdoor school record at 15-9 at Shippensburg University on April 27.

Goal for nationals: "If everything goes right, I definitely could see a top-three finish," Ecker said. "If everything goes really well for me and some people don't have their best day, I could see winning. Obviously, that would be a fantastic goal to reach. … I could see 5 meters (16-4 3/4) very realistically, and if it goes to 5.05 meters (16-6 3/4), that would be possible."

Coach's outlook: "Brayden has a chance to do something that's very rare in the pole vault world," Reid said. "He's close to breaking two very sacred pole vault marks -- 16 feet and 5 meters (16-4 3/4). I know he's ready to do it, and I think he has a shot to win."

Tommy Bildheiser

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Lebanon, Pa.

Event: Men's 3,000 steeplechase (Friday)

Personal best: 9:44.97

Seed for the meet: 22nd

Notes: Bildheiser, who will make his fourth appearance at an NJCAA national championship meet, qualified in a new event this spring. In his only attempt at the 3,000 steeplechase at the Region 20 championships on May 1, Bildheiser placed first in 9:44.97, beating the qualifying time by 5.24 seconds.

Goal for nationals: "I want to try to medal. That's the main goal," Bildheiser said. "I'm hoping I can run 9:30 or faster. … I'm pumped up to do it. It's a fun event, and not a lot of guys want to do it."

Coach's outlook: "Steeplechase is one of those events you're either good at or you're not," HCC head coach Mike Spinnler said. "There's not much of a middle ground. I've seen a lot of guys who weren't good at it. Tommy is a natural. He's one of those guys with both miler's speed and athleticism."

Rebecca Tellez

Year: Freshman

Hometown: Hagerstown

Events: Women's 10,000 (Thursday) and 5,000 (Saturday)

Personal bests: 40:38.00 in the 10,000 and 18:51.48 in the 5,000

Seeds for the meet: 20th in the 10,000 and 28th in the 5,000

Notes: Tellez, a 2022 South Hagerstown graduate, was a standout runner for the Rebels. This is her second year at HCC but her first year running for the Hawks.

Goal for nationals: "I'm not too sure, just because I am at the bottom of the qualifying," Tellez said. "I am really excited for the experience. I guess my goal is just to finish and to say I tried. We'll see what happens."

Coach's outlook: "It's a great honor for Rebecca to be there," Spinnler said. "She didn't make it indoors, and this time last year, she was out of the sport. Here she is now, going to run the 10,000 and 5,000 at the national championships. She has schools offering her scholarship packages. So much has changed in the last seven, eight months."

Michaela Carney

Year: Freshman

Hometown: Sharpsburg

Event: Women's pole vault (Thursday)

Personal best: 10 feet, 6 inches

Seed for the meet: 17th

Notes: Carney, a 2023 Boonsboro graduate, won the Class 1A state title in the girls pole vault last spring at 9-6. At the NJCAA indoor championships this year, she placed 12th at 10-2 1/2.

Coach's outlook: "I'm hoping for a PR," Reid said. "I'd like to see her jump 11 feet. She's improving, and that's what she has to do. As a freshman, you just want to get that exposure and have that experience of being at that national competition. She got that experience indoors, so she shouldn't be anywhere near as nervous this time around. Now, we're looking for her to get that next-level jump -- 11 feet, 11-6. She's capable, she's ready."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Meet the HCC athletes competing at the NJCAA Division I Track & Field Championships