By Christopher Hunt
Anyone could make the argument that Columbus senior Whitney Fountain is the best short sprinter in New York State. The only argument is that she isn’t as visible as some other high-profile athletes.
Fountain may not be at very invitational, but numbers are honest and because of that the argument might change. Fountain isn't just a top-flight sprinter. She could one of the best track and field athletes in New York State history. The Clemson-bound senior broke the state record in the pentathlon Wednesday in the first portion of the Bronx Borough Championships scoring 3,783 points. She crushed a record of 3,614 set by Alyissa Hasan of Williamsville South at the 2005 state championships.
“All I did was practice for it during the week,” Fountain said. “It was such late notice.”
Fountain had been thinking about trying a pentathlon ever since she won one in sixth grade. The problem wasn’t that the pentathlon includes five events. The fact that the last event is an 800-meter race kept her away. Fountain much preferred to run fast anyway.
She broke the indoor state records at 55 and 200 meters at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships last March, including the senior class state record at 60 meters. Fountain also broke the state junior class record in the 200 at the PSAL championships last June in 23.44 seconds. But she wanted to give the pentathlon another whirl. Her coach, Donald Potash, wasn’t as excited as she was.
“I told him that it was my last year and I was supposed to be having fun,” she said.
And when logic didn’t work she went for the soft spot.
“I just gave him the puppy dog eyes and he gave in,” Fountain said.
What followed was astounding single day performance that saw Fountain win all five events. She won the 100 hurdles in 14.8; tossed 33 feet, 3.75 inches in the shot put; jumped 19-4 in the long jump, 5-7 in the high jump and then outsprinted the field in the last 100 meters to win the 800 in 2:26.8.
“The high jump surprised me,” Fountain said. “In competition, I’ve only jumped 5-4.”
She only put in a cram-session for one day to go over her technique.
“I was only jumping 4-11,” she said. “I didn’t even try to go higher.”
Fountain chuckled at the idea that she might become a multi-event athlete in the future although she knew that the state record would be in reach. She had actually projected scoring 3,836. She was already a proven hurdler and has long jumped 20-11.25 two years ago.
“I wanted to see how I could do overall,” she said. “I figured I could be good at doing multi’s since I do multiple events.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
Fountain Event-by Event
Event 681 Outdoor Pentathlon: #1 Girls 100 Meter Hurdles Varsity Outdoor Pentathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 3680 FOUNTAIN, WHITNEY CHRISTOPHER 14.80 836
2 3283 ADAMS, BRITTNEY DEWITT CLINT 15.80 709
3 3278 HIGH, PATRICE DEWITT CLINT 17.40 526
4 1967 GLYMPH, TREASURE HARRY S. TRU 17.90 474
5 1911 HARRIS, LAUREN BRONX HS OF 18.10 454
Event 681 Outdoor Pentathlon: #2 Girls Shot Put Varsity Outdoor Pentathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 3680 FOUNTAIN, WHITNEY CHRISTOPHER 10.14m 539
2 3278 HIGH, PATRICE DEWITT CLINT 9.58m 502
3 3283 ADAMS, BRITTNEY DEWITT CLINT 8.61m 439
4 1911 HARRIS, LAUREN BRONX HS OF 6.39m 296
5 1967 GLYMPH, TREASURE HARRY S. TRU 5.59m 245
Event 681 Outdoor Pentathlon: #3 Girls Long Jump Varsity Outdoor Pentathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 3680 FOUNTAIN, WHITNEY CHRISTOPHER 5.90m 819
2 3283 ADAMS, BRITTNEY DEWITT CLINT 4.28m 374
3 3278 HIGH, PATRICE DEWITT CLINT 4.24m 364
4 1911 HARRIS, LAUREN BRONX HS OF 4.16m 345
5 1967 GLYMPH, TREASURE HARRY S. TRU 4.01m 310
Event 681 Outdoor Pentathlon: #4 Girls High Jump Varsity Outdoor Pentathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 3680 FOUNTAIN, WHITNEY CHRISTOPHER 1.70m 855
2 1967 GLYMPH, TREASURE HARRY S. TRU 1.37m 481
3 3283 ADAMS, BRITTNEY DEWITT CLINT 1.28m 389
-- 1911 HARRIS, LAUREN BRONX HS OF NH
-- 3278 HIGH, PATRICE DEWITT CLINT NH
Event 681 Outdoor Pentathlon: #5 Girls 800 Meter Run Varsity Outdoor Pentathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 3680 FOUNTAIN, WHITNEY CHRISTOPHER 2:26.80 734
2 3283 ADAMS, BRITTNEY DEWITT CLINT 2:27.20 728
3 3278 HIGH, PATRICE DEWITT CLINT 2:56.20 401
4 1967 GLYMPH, TREASURE HARRY S. TRU 3:01.80 349
5 1911 HARRIS, LAUREN BRONX HS OF 3:13.90 247