AnJalyna Talmadge a pentathlon champion

By Bond Brungard
Posted 6/5/19

Pine Bush’s AnJalyna Talmadge used to play softball. But during the summer she puts on the gear and gets behind the plate as an umpire, and she plans on doing the same as Little League heads …

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AnJalyna Talmadge a pentathlon champion

Posted

Pine Bush’s AnJalyna Talmadge used to play softball. But during the summer she puts on the gear and gets behind the plate as an umpire, and she plans on doing the same as Little League heads into the postseason within a month.

“Give back to the community,” said Talmadge, of why she umpires Little League.
She does not play softball, but the sport helped steer her into another direction as an athlete.

“It kind of gave me a boundary of what I wanted to do,” she said. “I realized it wasn’t for me, so I joined track.”

Talmadge, a senior, made her comments as she was getting ready Friday during the state outdoor track qualifier in Middletown. And when she headed home, she won the pentathlon in Division I with 3,105 points.

During the winter indoor season, she runs the in the 800-meter relay, hurdles and does the high jump. The pentathlon is a postseason event, and she used the dual-meet season this spring to train in her five events, 800-meter dash, the long jump, high jump, 100-hurdles and the shot put.

Friday, during the state qualifier, Talmadge was fourth in the 800-meter dash, third in the shot, but she won the 100-hurdles, the high jump and the long jump. Talmadge’s most difficult event is the 800-dash, but her favorite is the high jump.

“It’s the one I am best at,” she said. “It’s where I get most of my points from.”

Talmadge spent the winter and spring on the track teams, but she started the school year in the autumn playing volleyball. Pine Bush reached the state final four, and Talmadge helped the team get there with her athleticism and leaping ability at the net as a middle blocker.