A ‘rundown’ on winter track & field’s success

The boys and girls winter track and field teams have both enjoyed stellar seasons, and they will look to finish strong on Saturday at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory Track in New York City.

The boys are coming off of a historic victory in the Group 4 State Championship on Feb. 26. “It’s the first time we’ve won the meet since 1987, so it was a big deal for the program,” said senior captain Charlie Stock. “The big thing is we had a lot of guys contribute; we had the most scorers out of anyone in the meet.”

Junior Owen Paul finished fifth in the shot put, sophomore Avery Keith and senior Conor Daly finished third and fourth in the 3200-meter, Stock finished first in the 800-meter and the 4 x 400 relay team of seniors Justin Colby and Charlie Garretson, and junior Joe Pierro and Stock clinched the victory. Keith and Stock’s runs also set WHS records.

Both records were broken again at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions on March 5. Keith finished sixth in the 3200-meter and Stock continued his domination in the 800-meter, becoming the state champion.

The girls have had a successful season of their own. At the New Balance Games in New York City in January, the sprint medley relay of sophomore Sean O’Brien, sophomore Gabby Demeter, sophomore Darcy Scheiner and senior Emily DiSarno finished sixth and broke the WHS record. Junior Sonia Olson also broke the WHS record in the 600-meter.

The 4 x 800 relay is another strong point of the team this year. Disarno, Olson, junior Julia Schneider and junior Bella Hill combined for a nationals qualifying time, only three seconds off of the school record. The distance medley relay of DiSarno, Demeter, Schneider and Olson also qualified for Nationals.

Nationals will take place at the Armory in New York City, which is known as “The Fastest Track in the World.” With stiff competition from around the country, it will make for an exciting meet.

The boys will be running the sprint medley relay, 4 x 800 relay, 4 x mile relay, 4 x 400 relay, distance medley relay and 800-meter, and the girls will be running the 4 x 800 relay and the distance medley relay.

Olson will be competing in her second nationals meet after qualifying for the outdoor nationals last year, which took place in South Carolina. “I was so proud of our team for continuing the legacy this year by qualifying for the 4 x 800 relay and distance medley relay again,” she said. “We have been working hard towards this all season, and now all we have to do is perform.”