WHS winter sports continue their domination with stellar results coming from individual state championships.

On the boys wrestling team, captains Luke Jacobs, Michael Murphy and Ethan Composto, along with Brandon Ribiero, represented WHS at the NJSIAA state tournament held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. from March 3-5.

Murphy placed 7th in the 157 weight class, being the only Union County wrestler to place at the state tournament. This wasn’t the only highlight of Murphy’s season, as he was also a county, district and region champion, finishing with an outstanding 38-4 record.

Murphy discussed this success and where it comes from: “I doubt myself a lot. My season is less a battle with my opponents and more a battle with myself. I hold myself to this standard and it comes with a lot of pressure, but I overcome that which makes winning that much sweeter.”

The boys track team continued their successful season in the individual meet of champions (MOC) held on March 5. Virginia Tech commit Charlie Stock was a state champion in the 800m and claimed the indoor WHS record with a time of 1:52.70. In the 3200 meter, Avery Keith placed 6th, setting a Union County record and Conor Daly placed 7th. Both of their times were the top two fastest in Westfield indoor track history.

The relay teams also dominated at the MOCs. Justin Colby, Charlie Garretson, Joe Pierro and Charlie Stock came in second in the 4 x 400 with a time of 3:23.93. In the 4 x 800, Dan Cortese, Jimmy Gildea, Graham Korins and Johnathan Scalia came in third with a time of 8:12.18.

These track stars had so much success at the state level, that they qualified to compete at the national level at the Armory in New York City from March 11-13. Westfield qualified for six different events at nationals and the athletes were All-Americans in four events. Stock finished his winter season plac- ing sixth in the 800 meter event. The Sprint Medley Relay (SMR) team composed of Colby, Pierro, Garretson and Stock won nationals with a time of 3:28.49, 9 seconds faster than their own previous school record.

The Distance Medley Relay (DMR), run by Colby, Daly, Keith and Scalia, took sixth with a time of 10:16.39, and broke the school record set in 1997 by a National Championship team. The 4 x 1600 relay team, run by Keith, Daly, Ben Hacker and Liam Maurillo, took fourth with a time of 17:56.52, another school record.

Being a leg of a relay team comes with a lot of trust and motivation. Pierro said, “We’re so successful because we all trust each other and put in the hours. Each guy put in their fair share of work all throughout the off season and this season. I think we succeed because of the work we put in every day and we show up knowing we could win.”

After an undefeated season, the girls swim team remained on top at the MOC held on March 5-6. Sophomore Clare Logan won the 100 meter back title with a new meet and school record of 53.83. Emily Constable took first place in the 100 meter breast.

The medley relay team of Logan, Erin McKinney, Abby Ebel and Constable took second. This group also took second in the 200 meter free re- lay event. The girls swim team is composed of dedicated athletes who look to push one another to be their best.

Logan said, “During every high school meet and practice, we support each other and push each other to do our best. We reached goals we thought were unachievable. This is my first year swimming with the high school and it has benefited me so much.”

The boys swim team was able to bounce back after their close loss to Cherry Hill East to finish out the season strong at individual states which took place March 5-6.

“Regardless of all the controversy and the heartfelt loss that we had, we still knew the talent we had on the team and we also knew there were many opportunities to break records again at MOCs,” said senior Colman Scanlan.

The boys 200 meter free relay team, which includes Scanlan, Colin Kava- nagh, Roan Baker and Owen Waibel, placed second. Another relay team, composed of Baker, Waibel, Christian Tedesco and Kavanagh, placed third in the 400 meter free relay.

The boys swim team came into the year with a strong lineup of guys, not just seniors, but underclassmen as well. “We knew that the four guys that would be lined up for this season would be the perfect formula to take that record,” said Scanlan.

It is possible that WHS athletics may have just witnessed their best collective individual winter sports season of all time.