The Westfield High School (WHS) boys track & field team took top honors in one individual event and one relay event, finished 2-3-4 in the 1,600 and added three second-place performances, along with several additional Top-8 placements to capture the crown with a total of 77 at the Group 4 Championships in Somerset on June 7-8. The Westfield girls placed fifth with a total of 30 in their group that was won by Eastern Regional and Hillsborough tied at 50 points.
A very shining moment for the boys was when seniorAvery Keith crossed first in the 3,200 with a WHS record time of 8:57.74. Another shining moment came in the 4×800 when Jim Hamilton, Kaleb Stoeckman, Eamon Mason and Jimmy Gildea finished first with a time of 7:54.22. Rowan McMahill, Noah Petrassi with a personal best (PB) 49.58, Mason and Manny Gayanilo finished second in the 4×400 at 3:22.02.
Alex Valencia at 4:11.18, Keith at 4:11.48 and Ryan Daly at 4:13.38 finished 2-3-4 in the 1,600. Valencia at 1:52.04 (PB), Daly at 1:52.81 (PB) and Gildea at 1:56.17 finished 2-3-9 in the 800. Gayanilo finished fourth in the 400-hurdles at 54.19 and McMahill finished fourth in the 200 at 22.33. Gayanilo also finished 11th in the 400 at 49.84.
In the field events, Noah Rubenstein took second in the discus with a PB throw of 153-5 and Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raider Zuriel Battle took sixth at 144-0. Max Cho placed sixth in the javelin with a PB toss of 165-10 and Raider Noah Ricca took ninth at 154-7. Andrew Geocos placed eighth in the pole vault with a PB clearance of 12-6.
For the girls, Blue Devil Sean O’Brien finished second in the 200 with a time of 24.95 and Raider Delaney Farley finished fifth at 25.29. O’Brien also finished third in the 100 dash at 12.05 just ahead of Farley at the same time. Blue Devil Gabby Demeter placed third in the high jump with a height of 5-4. Raiders Mia Tromble, Keira Kelly, KeziahAcedieu and Farley finished third in the 4×100 at 48.52.
Blue Devil Priscilla Dayon took third in the javelin with a toss of 1219, followed by Raider Mackenzie Virgil at 120-2, while Blue Devil Emma Sullivan placed 11th at 110-9. Blue Devils Anna Kylish, Olivia Thornton, Regan Stevens and Lina Wright finished fourth in the 4×800 at 9:36.2. Blue Devils Darcy Scheiner, Alexis Ray, Kylish and Demeter finished seventh in the 4×400 at 4:01.07. Raider Sarah Sicoli was 10th in the pole vault with a height of 10-0.
In the Group 3 Championships at Franklinville, Cranford Cougar Sanaa Wright took fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 5-2. BellaAlvarez-Gomez, Lilly Costello, Maddy Leonetti and Kristen Ledford finished seventh in the 4×400 at 4:05.03. Kristen Fries placed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 36-1.25. Alvarez-Gomez at 1:05.04 and Ellie Semple at 1:05.67 finished 9-11 in the 400-hurdles.
In the boys’ events, Ben Fossella took eighth in the shot put with a shove of 49-0.75 and Alex Kessler took 10th in the javelin with a toss of 150-3.
