Ashley Higginson

Marlboro Township, NJ

A new rising star has blossomed in Monmouth County this year. Ashley
Higginson, a 14 year old honor student from Marlboro Township, will be entering Colts Neck High School as a freshman this fall. Her athletic activities until the
7th grade centered around MOSA travel soccer, Mid-Monmouth Basketball, and AAU basketball. As a 7th grader in 2002 she thought she would try her hand in track and tried out for Marlboro Middle School's track team. During this first experience with track it became clear that she had running talent. She concluded a
very successful season by becoming the first Marlboro Middle School athlete to win a gold medal in the County Middle School All-star Meet. Her 1st place win in the 1600 meter in 5:27 was just 1.2 seconds off the All-star Meet record. She also came in 5th in the 400 meter run.

As an 8th grader this year she again focused on soccer and basketball until
the spring of 2003 when Marlboro Middle School track season started. Although
AAU basketball was still in swing, she balancing the two sports and managed to
win almost all of her school's 400 and 1600 meter duel meets. During the
season she proceeded to post the fastest middle school 1600 meter time in the state
with a time of 5:17, which took place in a three school meet between Marlboro, Howell North, and Asbury Park. As the season came to a close she was awarded
the coveted trophy as the Shore Intermediate School Track League Most
Outstanding Runner of 2003.

Because of her Spring track success she began to focus more on running this
summer and improved her 5K time down to 19:53 with a 2nd place finish at the
Freehold Area Running Club's 14th annual 5K for Women. During the month of July she competed successfully in the Hershey National State Qualifier in both the
1600 and 800 meter runs, and in the USATF Youth Olympic State and Regional
Championships. She also competed in the USA Track and Field 2003 Youth Athletics National Championship held at the University at Buffalo. Her 2nd placed time of 4:49.06 in the 1500 meter race is one of the fastest times posted nationally
this year in her age group.

During the month of August Ashley is attending the John Hopkins Center for
Talented Youth Summer Program, studying Greek and Latin. She will not be running in competition during this time, but will maintain a running schedule each
morning. In her freshman year at Colts Neck High School she is planning to play
soccer in the fall and indoor and outdoor track in the winter and spring.