Rashawn Markman
School: Waldwick
Sport: Track and field
Class: Senior. Age: 18
Accomplishment: Markman set two Waldwick winter records at a March 27 quad meet against Emerson, Park Ridge and Wood-Ridge. He cleared 6-5 in the high jump and 22-3¾ in the long jump, and according to nj.milesplit.com, those were the No. 2 and No. 5 marks in New Jersey, respectively, this season.
By: Greg Tartaglia / NorthJersey.com 
Rashawn Markman got an early jump on spring track and field season.
His Waldwick team had just one meet during its pandemic-shortened winter campaign, a quad at Emerson with Park Ridge and Wood-Ridge.
“Basically, we’ve just been training the whole winter season,” the senior said. “And then, we got to compete last Saturday.”
Normally at this time of year, track athletes would be transitioning between indoor and outdoor seasons – but again, in times of COVID, even “winter” meets were held outside. Masks were also required for the high jump, but not for sprinting.
“It definitely felt very different,” Markman said.
Yet his results remained top-notch, as he won the high jump, long jump and 55-meter dash. The biggest change moving forward will be going from the shorter sprint race to the 100- and 200-meter events.
Having an actual spring season to cap his final year of high school will be a welcome change from 2020 as well.
“I’m very thankful that I am able to compete this year,” Markman said. “Last year, I was pretty bummed out. And I was nervous that [spring track] wouldn’t even happen this year. So, I’m just trying to take advantage of as many opportunities as I can.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder got plenty of practice with that on the football field.
Waldwick/Midland Park played just six games last fall – fewest in the co-op’s history – but reached the NJIC championship game for the first time. There, despite a loss to unbeaten Becton, Markman became the only player all season to score on the vaunted Wildcats defense, finding the end zone twice.
“I was actually very happy with how my senior year turned out in football,” Markman said. “Because there were two returning seniors that had started, me and Shawn Grigsby, and the rest were mostly first-year juniors, sophomores and some freshmen. So, I was very excited that we did so well.”
Speed was his calling card on the gridiron, too. He gained an average of 14 yards every time he touched the ball (rushing, receiving and returning) and scored 11 touchdowns.
His 6.6-second run in the 55 last weekend was 0.2 faster than his 2020 winter best and a good complement to the team records he set in the jumps.
Markman plans to study biology and compete in track and field at a college to be determined. He has received multiple acceptance letters and hopes to make his decision by the beginning of May.
Before he takes that leap, though, he has a few more things he’d like to accomplish on the track.
“My No. 1 goal right now is to try to jump 23 feet in long jump,” Markman said, adding, “and run under 11 seconds in the 100.”
