Photography by Steve Buchanan
Recent Crofton High School graduate Victoria Marston loves to tell the story of how she first tried out for track and field at the school. Marston’s volleyball teammate Jordan Mueller urged her and several other fellow players to try out the track team since there was a shortage of candidates, and the fact that it was new.
“We didn’t have enough people in our grade to actually cut people from the track team,” Marston recalls. “If you showed up, you made the team. So, I went out for fun.”
Marston and her friends joined the track and field team in the spring of 2021 because the school couldn’t have an indoor, winter squad due the pandemic. Marston decided to take up field events because running wasn’t her strength.
“I tend to be slower when it comes to running,” she says. “I didn’t have a fast mile time at all. I never really enjoyed it as a kid.”
So, the 6-foot Marston tried the high jump and had success right away. She finished her sophomore season as Class 2A regional champion and placed third in the state. She notes that before discovering the high jump, she danced and played volleyball. The jumping involved in both also served to her advantage.
Marston became so good that she’ll compete in indoor and outdoor track at West Virginia University and earned an academic scholarship. She also garnered interest from Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Penn State, and Johns Hopkins. She’ll major in electrical engineering after carrying a 4.26 weighted grade-point average in high school.
“It was something her family never imagined she would excel in and or be involved in,” Crofton High Track and Field Coach Stacy Severtson says. “They are amazed that she is now going to college for it.
“It’s the ideal sport for her because she is tall, very agile, and athletic,” she adds. “It’s also her mindset and training. She fell in love with the high jump and how it was always a challenge. It’s an event of inches. You always need that extra inch.”
The 18-year-old Marston chose West Virginia for several reasons, including social life and academics.
“I like the energy West Virginia gave,” she explains. “A lot of people go out for sports games, there’s tailgating, and a lot of student life, like clubs. I didn’t want to go to a big school where you were like a fish in the ocean, but the school wasn’t too big. I also like what is offered for engineering and things available to students after they graduate.”
How good was Marston in high school track? She participated in three national meets in a three-month span this past spring and came away with a first-place finish among 40 competitors in the high jump, with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches during the Adidas Indoor Nationals held in Virginia Beach.
“Winning that gave me more confidence since I hadn’t done track that long,” says Marston, whose personal-best mark in the high jump was 5-5. “I didn’t believe I was as good as everyone said I was, but I proved I am as good as them (the national track athletes).”
Marston finished her Crofton career by winning the Class 3A high jump, and she ranked first in the state among all private and public schools with a leap of 5-4.
“Honestly, it’s pretty crazy to me,” Marston says of the state-meet performance. “I just wanted to do track for fun.”
Marston proved to be a workhorse this past spring when she also competed in the 100-meter hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4x100 relay, pole vault, discus, shot put, long jump, and triple jump in nine different meets.
“At one time, we were thinking about her for the decathlon,” Severtson says.
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