Track and field isn’t Carly Warn’s favorite athletic endeavor. That would be soccer. Even so, Warn has made her mark on the Winslow High School track and field team in just two years.
“(Soccer) makes me a little less anxious, but track has helped me a lot. It gets me in really good shape for soccer season,” said Warn, who recently completed her sophomore year at Winslow. “Sometimes I do feel a lot of pressure, but I still love doing it, and I still love being a part of it, because it’s a whole different atmosphere than soccer. It pushes me to be my best.”
This spring, Warn’s best placed her amongst the state’s best. Warn won the Class B state title in the triple jump with a jump of 34 feet, 6.75 inches. She also placed third in the 100-meter dash at the state meet. Warn won triple and long jump titles at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B meet, while placing third in the 100 and fifth in the 200.
Winslow’s Carly Warn sprints to a third-place finish in 100-meter finals at the Class B track and field championship meet last month in Brewer. Kennebec Journal photo by Joe Phelan
For her efforts, Warn is the Morning Sentinel Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Kahryn Cullenberg of Mt. Blue, who won the 3,200-meter run at the Class B state championship, and Sage Pound of Mount View, who won the Class C title in the 1,600 meters, were also considered.
“She just has tons of talent. We’re very lucky to have her in track,” Winslow track and field coach Ken Nadeau said. “I think she’s pretty gifted.”
Nadeau put Warn in a few events this season, before deciding on the jumps and sprints.
“She’s a little more explosive. She’s faster. Any time you can be fast on the runway, you can accelerate through the board,” Nadeau said.
Success in the triple jump is practically a birthright for Warn. Her older brother Jake, a 2018 Winslow High graduate, won three state titles in the event for the Black Raiders. Warn’s victory in the state meet this year put the Warn family at the top of the triple jump podium for a fourth straight year. Being the little sister of a successful athlete does come with pressure, Warn said. However, she said Jake helped her succeed.
“He gives me a lot of tips and it’s really helpful. Sometimes we’ll go to the track after practice and we’ll just work on it some more. He has a lot of knowledge on it,” Warn said. “(Triple jump is) definitely something I’ve worked the most on. I’ve always loved it and always loved jumping. I started when I was real young. I just kept going.”
Warn and Nadeau said she needs to improve the second phase of her triple jump, the bounding phase, where gaining distance is key to a successful jump.
“I’m still working on my second phase. Sometimes it’s a little rough,” Warn said. “It’s mostly just the form that’s really important when you’re jumping. Each phase, you have to measure out to get where you want to be. If it’s off a little bit, you probably won’t get that good next phase.”
When that improvement comes, Nadeau says Warn can add more than a foot to her jumps and claim the Winslow school record, which is 35-4.75.
“I think she could easily jump 36 feet,” Nadeau said.
As Warn’s speed improves, Nadeau expects she’ll continue to contend for state titles in the 100 and 200.
“I think we’ll keep seeing her times go down. It’s something for us to look forward to,” Nadeau said.
When she’s in the blocks for a race or at the end of the runway about to jump, Warn’s mind is racing. To calm down and gain focus, she thinks of advice her father, Eric Warn, offers frequently.
“Everything is running through my mind. My Dad always tells me to visualize what I’m going to do before I start. That always helps me a lot,” Warn said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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