By Mitch Abramson
On Sunday at the Queens Borough Championships and with her brother in attendance, Ford defeated a competitive field in the 55-meter dash to qualify for the city championships this Saturday at the Armory in Manhattan.Ford's sparkling race helped anchor a Jamaica girls' team which won their third consecutive indoor Queens Borough Championship at the Armory. The Beavers dominated the speed and field events, amassing 156 points. Townsend Harris finished second with 101 points and received a trinity of excellence from junior Devotia Moore who won the 3,000, 1,500 and 1,000-meters, crushing the competition in each event. Like Ford, she was once a freshman sensation.”Sprinters are born; you either have it or you don't,” said Jamaica coach Alan Coles. “And Whitney definitely has it. She has speed and ability, just like her brother. I guess it's in the genes.”While Nathaniel, a senior tailback, terrified opposing defenses with his running and non-stop chatter, Whitney says little. At just 4-foot-11 and 110 pounds, she was dwarfed by her taller competitors. But when she crossed the finish line in 7.54 seconds, a hundredth of a second faster than the second place finisher, Samantha Chukwura of Bayside [7.55], Ford looked 10 feet tall, her muscular legs and arms hauling her to victory. Chukwura and Aviation's Nellita Brown, who finished third in 7.66 also qualified for the city championships.”I feel so good,” Ford said. “I was nervous before the race, especially running against varsity competition when I'm only a freshman, but I stayed focused and tried to keep my eye on the prize. I get a little nervous when I see the bigger runners lining up next to me. I do feel a little intimidated, but my brother tells me that I have to do my thing because I'm a Ford.”After finishing second at the Mayor's Cup Championships Jan. 28 to Tilden's Sheveen Rowe, Ford improved her time from 7.62 to 7.54 and will look to avenge her earlier defeat to Rowe in the city championships.When it was apparent that Ford could compete against older athletes, she was quickly moved off the freshman team after just two meets. “You don't keep a sprinter of that caliber on the freshman team,” Coles said. “She really should have been on the varsity from the beginning, but I figured I would let her have a little fun and then move her up.”At the Borough Championships, Ford also ran the 800-meter relay, helping her team finish third, and the 1,600-meter relay, finishing first in 4:34.38 with Tamarra Jenkins, Triesha Bradford and Olubuko Ogunmola. Coles discovered Ford at the Colgate Women's Games when Ford was a junior high school student. Eventually, Coles anticipates moving her to longer events like the 300 and 400-meters to make her an all-around runner.”The sky's the limit for her,” Coles said. “It's a matter of how hard she wants to work.”Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
