Athlete Spotlight: Kimberley Ficenec

Photos by Ryan Kelly 

Link to Race Video of Ficenec's surprise 1000 meter state victory

Kimberley Ficenec’s principal never gets her name right. In fact, just about everyone she meets has trouble saying it. One time, someone mispronounced her last name “finance.”

“It’s hard,” Ficenec, whose parents are from Czech Republic, says of her last name. “I’m not going to lie. If I met someone with a name like that I’d probably get it wrong, too.”

Folks will probably start getting it right now that Ficenec (pronounced fitz-uh-nitz) has made everyone take notice by winning a state title. The Mountain View junior won the 1,000-meter run at the Virginia AAA championships Saturday in Hampton, crossing the line at Boo Williams Sportsplex in 2 minutes 54.47 seconds, the fastest time by a Virginia girl this season.

Ficenec outleaned Edison senior and middle distance star Myah Hicks (2:54.58) for the victory, but what made her race even more impressive perhaps is how q...