On Saturday, Apr. 20, Abington High School track and field alumna and active Utica College discus thrower for the Pioneers, Molly Ferguson, set a new school record at Utica, where she is a senior. Utica is a Division III school. Her record was for the longest distance throw with a 41.33m at the Cortland Classic. The event at the division III field included athletes from Division I, such as Syracuse and Cornell. A few days later, on Apr. 22, Ferguson was named Empire 8 Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week.

As a freshman in her first year at Utica for the 2015-2016 season, Ferguson competed in eight outdoor track meets and nine indoor track and field events. She posted her best weight throw mark of 10.77 meters at the Utica College Clark Invitational on Jan. 16, 2016 . During her season, she recorded her best shot put distance of 10.53 meters at the Jerry Gravel Classic on Apr. 16, 2016. She also set her best discus toss mark of 37.16 meters at the Empire 8 Track and Field Championship of on Apr. 23, 2016. It was quite a season.

Ferguson graduated from Abington in 2015. “College track and field and high school track and field is like comparing apples and oranges. When I was in high school, I was a big fish in a little pond, but when I got to college, I was a small fish in a huge pond,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson added that “college athletics is much more intense in many different ways. Not only do you have to work harder in the gym and on the track, but the school work intensifies as well.” Although college is more intense, Ferguson added, “It’s very doable, but it takes a lot of good time management skills and dedication.

There are some similarities in the team Ferguson was on at Abington and her team now. “My team itself [at Abington High] compared to my team at Utica is fairly similar, except I have about 140 teammates now. We have lots of fun together, but still work very hard, which leads us all to have a lot of success.”

Currently a criminal justice major at Utica, Ferguson made a big impact in Track and Field at AHS. She enjoyed her career. “I loved it. I truly wouldn’t be where I am today without it. I loved my team. We always had so much fun, but still worked hard. I would love to see this program continue to grow as the years go on, because I can see it becoming an even larger part of AHS athletics. Track and field really has something for everyone in my opinion, which makes it awesome.”

Her advice for high school athletes is “if you love it, work hard and keep going. I think the best thing I ever did was continue my athletics through to college.” Besides that, Ferguson said: “Another thing, too, is to take care of yourself. If you’re hurting, get help right away. I learned that the hard way after having shoulder surgery. Make smart decisions in every aspect of your life because everything you do will come back to you.”

You can follow Utica athletics on their Twitter page at UCPioneers.