Vanguard track & field coach James Travieso has heard and seen a lot in his three decades working with athletes, but in mid-May he did a double-take.
As senior Emma Curtis accepted her MESPY as Marion County’s
girls track & field athlete of the year, she talked about a pre-meet tradition she and her teammates started in the 2026 season.
“They would go to Publix and get cookies,” Travieso said, sounding still a bit stunned. “I couldn’t believe it!”
A month-and-a-half later, Curtis clarified that if VHS had a Saturday morning meet and stayed the night before in a hotel, there often was a Publix nearby. The athletes would walk over, purchase their cookies (her favorite is chocolate chip) and eat one before bed and none before competing.
As for the ride back home?
“Maybe, (I’d eat) five after a race,” Curtis said with a laugh.
In the end it did nothing to slow her down, as she finished the year as the county’s best in the 1600-meter run (5:08.58) and the 3200 (11:00.64) en route to finishing as the Star-Banner’s girls track & field athlete of the year.
Curtis’s time in the 3200 earned her sixth place at the FHSAA Class 3A state meet on May 8 and is the second-best time in school history behind Kelly Parrish (10:19), a 7-time state champion in cross country and track who ran for the University of Tennessee after graduating from Vanguard in 2006.
Curtis said following her junior year she, like Parrish, had hopes of running in college. But Curtis thought about the time involved and decided she wanted to shift her focus to her dream of being a veterinarian after studying Animal Sciences at the University of Florida.
She said she does plan on getting involved with UF’s Florida Running Club to satisfy the competitor that remains inside her, but her days of racing at major meets have come to a close.
And it isn’t crossing the line and looking up at her time she will miss most.
“My favorite memory was running the 4x800 at state this year,” Curtis said. “I got to run it with my best friends (junior Cierra Mills, fellow senior Savannah Risner and Emma’s twin sister, Ava). It was so much fun cheering each other on. Wedidn’t race that many times together during the season, but we did there, and I’ll always remember it.
“We aren’t going to be together all the time any more, so that was pretty special.”
Risner has already enrolled at Florida State and Ava will join her in the fall. But plans already are in place to meet up for football game days in Gainesville and Tallahassee.
Cookies required.
2026 All-Marion County Girls Track & Field Team
Season-best time or distance in parentheses
100 - Royale Hopkins, West Port (12.04)
200 - Isabel Head, West Port (24.62)
400 - Isabel Head, West Port (55.28)
800 - Ava Curtis, Vanguard (2:18.23)
1600 - Emma Curtis, Vanguard (5:08.48)
3200 - Emma Curtis, Vanguard (11:00.64)
100 hurdles - Zuriyah Oats, Forest (14.65)
400 hurdles - Railynn Strong, Vanguard (1:07.88)
Discus - Gabrielle Johnson, West Port (133-6)
Shot put - Gabrielle Johnson, West Port (34-11.75)
Javelin - Tatiana Dobkowski, Belleview (85-6)
Long jump - Zuriyah Oats, Forest (18-8.5)
Triple jump - Sasha West, West Port (37-5)
High jump - Morgan King, Forest (5-3.75)
Pole Vault - Kylie Goodson, Forest (8-10.75)
Honorable mention: Lyla Hallick, Forest; Cierra Mills, Vanguard; Savannah Risner, Vanguard;Zaria Jacobs, Vanguard; Dominique Braham, West Port; Peace Iyamu, West Port; IndyahParilla, West Port; Alexis McClain, West Port; Amani Bradley, West Port; Mckenzee Adames,Lake Weir; Lauren Kennedy, Trinity Catholic; Lauren Murphy, Trinity Catholic; Kayla Blakey,North Marion.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: All-County Girls Track & Field: Vanguard senior finds sweet success to end career
