Anna Chamberlin is a jock of all trades.
The North Hagerstown senior has done just about everything during her four-year varsity career with the Hubs — basketball, cross country, flag football, lacrosse, and indoor and outdoor track. She’s excelled in all of them, often even playing two sports in the same season.
Which sport is her favorite?
Easy: track and field.
Why? Because for Chamberlin, it offers the chance to do a little of everything.
“It’s really fun to try everything,” she said.
Last month, during the North Hagerstown Coaches’ Open on her home track, Chamberlin topped a field of 70 girls to win the 100-meter dash in 13.14 seconds. It was her first time competing in the event, and with it, she officially completed all 18 events in outdoor track and field during her high school career — believed to be the first girl in Washington County history to do so.
“Part of the reason I’ve done all of the events is because I’m so indecisive,” she said. “I went from playing every sport to narrowing down track and field as my favorite sport. And I literally narrowed it down to the sport where I can still be indecisive and try everything.”
The 18 events include sprints (100, 200, 400), distance races (800, 1,600, 3,200), hurdles (100 high, 300 intermediate), relays (4×100, 4×200, 4×400, 4×800), vertical jumps (high jump, pole vault), horizontal jumps (long jump, triple jump) and throws (shot put, discus).
When she joined North’s track team during the spring of her freshman year — while also playing lacrosse for the Hubs — Chamberlin primarily was a distance runner and competed in five different events.
By her sophomore year, her repertoire had expanded dramatically. She competed in 14 events, leaving only the 100, pole vault, 4×100 and 4×200 on her to-do list.
As a junior, she competed in 13 events, including the 4×100 and 4×200, leaving only the 100 and pole vault.
“I tried pole vault in practice my junior year, just to see, and it was terrifying,” Chamberlin said. “But then this year, when I realized I only had that and the 100 left to complete them all, I asked (coach Lacie Johnson) if I could try it. I tried it at Smithsburg (during the season-opening Charas Heurich Invitational), and it wasn’t too bad.”
She cleared 7 feet to place eighth in a field of 21 competitors, tying for 17th in school history in the event.
“If you look on Athletic.net and see how many events she’s top 10 all-time in at North, it’s remarkable,” North coach TJ Hood said. “She’s top 25 all-time in every event she’s tried except the throws. There are some events she did at a very high level, but even the ones where she was like, ‘I think I’ll try this,’ she still did them as well as most people would dream of.”
After competing in the pole vault, only the 100 remained.
“She mentioned before the Coaches’ Open that the 100 was all she had left, and I thought that was really cool,” Hood said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, do it.’ But again, she didn’t just go out there and run it. She became the 18th-fastest girl in school history.”
Chamberlin’s top event now is the high jump, where she earned a Maryland Class 3A state silver medal last spring.
At the 3A West region championships later this week at Frederick High, Chamberlin is entered in the high jump and both hurdle races and likely will run in at least two relays while trying to qualify for the state meet in as many events as possible. Athletes are limited to six events.
Chamberlin plans to attend the University of Maryland. Although she won’t compete for the Terps at the Division I level, she still plans to stay active athletically.
“I plan on doing club track and also playing intramural sports, like basketball and stuff,” she said.
