The Girls Winter Track and Field team opened the season with a successful first race at the Gardiner Holiday Relays, held at the Ocean Breeze Indoor Athletic Complex on Staten Island, New York, on Wednesday, December 11. Thirty teams were in attendance.
Led by junior captain Lilah Willis, who dominated the race, the distance medley team finished eighth to start the evening.
The shuttle hurdle team was next with a seventh-place finish. The team was led by senior captain Samantha Alley and joined by freshman Ava Gumann, junior Lochlin McFay and sophomore Abby Gayle.
The 4×200 team ran 1:50:54 and was the second Morris County finisher and fifth overall. The team was made up of four juniors: captain Seannah Parsons, Jillian Liebhauser, Ameerah Taylor and Gabby Ball.
“Relays are super fun because you get a chance to work with your teammates collectively in a race together, and everyone is always in a great mood because of this,” junior Liliana Colasante said.
The 4×800 team also secured fifth place, and was led by senior captain Mia Mugavero and joined by junior Keili Semler, sophomore Jaidyn Young and freshman Samantha Cerulo.
The top performance of the evening went to the sprint medley relay team who took second overall with a time of 4:25:56. This included Willis running the 400 leg and Taylor and Ball running the 200 legs.
With the placements of the Gardiner relays, the girls are optimistic about a promising upcoming season. While the team may have lost some strong seniors last year, strong newcomers have come on board and are ready to show off their skills.
“We have a lot of new faces this winter and expect to be one of the more competitive teams in Morris County,” Head Coach Kevin Higgins said.
“I think the girls will have a lot of success this year, especially in relays because of our depth in talent,” Willis said. “Hopefully we can put some competitive teams together and perform well this season.”
Cheer on Girls Winter Track at the team’s next meet on Friday, Dec. 27 at Drew University.
