Liberty High School jumping coach Andy Messa encouraged high jumper, Casey Harewood, to go for it, and when she did, the Hurricane senior broke the school record with a height of 5'6 1/4 during Liberty's track and field meet against Freedom last week.

"I was just speechless. I was jumping up and down, pointing at the bar," Harewood said.

Harewood had been well aware of the previous school record, 5'6.

"My coaches and I talked about it many times," she said.

Harewood had actually won the high jump on her first attempt, reaching a height of 5'1.

"If you already win, you can change the height at any time. I asked my coach, 'Where should I put the bar next?' He said, 'Will you be happy with 5'3 today?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Will you be happy at 5'5 today?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'So go for it.'"

Harewood surprised herself, breaking the record on her first attempt.

"I had really fresh legs. There was no point in wasting any jumps," said Harewood.

Liberty's girls were victorious over the Patriots in the rivalry meet, winning 93-57.

Winners in each event were Liberty's Jaylyne Aminu in the 100 dash with a time of 13.0, and Kay West in the 200 dash with a time of 28.1.

Freedom's Morgan Weaver won the 400 with a time of 1:02.2, and Shaina Palmer was a triple event winner in the 800 with a time of 2:30, the 1600 with a time of 5:48, and the 3200 with a time of 12:21.

Aminu took first place in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.3, and Rashana Tompkins was first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.1.

Aminu, Rynisha House, Rachel Finn, and West placed first in the 4x1 relay with a time of 51.4, Finn, Aleesha Gordon, Sarah King, and West won the 4x4 relay with a time of 4:19.6, all for Liberty, and Mackenzie Harding, Bridget Tarnowski, Bianca Aiyala, and Palmer won the 4x8 relay with a time of 10:25 for the Patriots.

Freedom's Gia Erie took first place in the shot put with a distance of 34-0 and in the discus with a distance of 93-7.

Liberty's Nicole Capuano won the javelin with a distance of 112-0. West placed first in the long jump with a distance of 16-5, Lauren Hess was first in the triple jump with a distance of 32-0, and Rachel Steiner won the pole vault with a height of 9-4.