Mina Vucic, Swimming

Junior Mina Vucic first started swimming competitively at the age of nine. Eight years later, her passion for the sport remains as strong as ever. Already one of the top swimmers on WJ’s team, she constantly challenges herself to improve, a vital trait in a talent pool as deep as Montgomery County’s.

“The county competition was actually pretty intense this year because the county meet takes into account all schools in Montgomery County,” she said. “I was basically racing many of the girls that I see at my club meets.”

Swim and Dive rose above its competitors to win its fifth consecutive county championship on Feb. 14-16. Vucic placed first in the 50 freestyle, and contributed to top finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

These accomplishments are only part of a continually-growing list. Vucic’s times made her an All-American qualifier in 2006 and 2007, a Junior National qualifier from 2006 to 2008, a U.S. Open qualifier from 2006 to 2008 and a Sectional Team qualifier from 2005 to 2008.

Her success, however, does not come easily.

“My biggest obstacle was this past year because I kind of plateaued for a while,” said Vucic. “I went to my big meets in the spring and summer feeling confident and then I did not do as well as I wanted, so getting my confidence up again has been kind of a struggle.”

Ian Francis, Track

The first time senior Ian Francis tried the triple jump in the 8th grade, his knee collapsed and the resulting fall took a chunk out of his leg. Five years later, Francis is one of the top five jumpers in the state and is being recruited to jump for Emory and Tufts.

He set the indoor track school record for both the triple jump, at 45 feet nine inches, and the long jump, at 21 feet 3.75 inches.

“He is the best natural triple jumper I have ever coached and is just starting to understand his talent as a runner,” said track and field coach Tom Rogers.

The triple jump consists of three parts: a hop, a step and the actual jump. The objective is to create the greatest amount of speed that can be controlled through all three phases. Many different elements must be taken into account when doing the jump, including speed and leg and arm positioning.

Francis not only trains for the technical jumps, but also for the long jump, the 4x400 relay and the 4x200 relay.

Although Francis did not qualify for nationals, he competed in the state championships on Feb. 19 in the 4x400 relay, posting an individual time of 53.1 seconds, and plans to rest up for the outdoor season in March in hopes of improving his scores.

“I’m expecting to hit around high 47 or 48 feet around the end of the outdoor season for triple jump,” he said.