Girls track hopes to carry success into nationals

By Heath Kalb ’18

The girls track and field team has continued their success this winter season with a second place finish in groups and a trip to Nationals coming later this month.

The Lady Knights competed in the Group State Championships on Friday, Feb. 16 at the Bennett Center in Toms River, NJ where they placed second overall, 4.25 points behind Rumson- Fair Haven. Senior Reanda Richards became a group champion after finishing first place in the 55m hurdles. She was also third in the 800m. Julia Geiger tied for fifth in the high jump. The 4×400 relay of Alexia Perez, Gabriela Karch, Vivian Onnembo and Reanda took second place.

Sophomore Jenna Chan received a wild card (one of the top times outside of the top six) to move on to Meet of Champions in the 55m hurdles.

On Feb. 20, the girls competed in the Eastern States Championships at the Armory in New York City. There, Richards ran a personal best 8.17 seconds in the hurdles to place fourth and qualify for nationals. The girls 4×400 ran a season best time of 3:59.51, and by breaking four minutes now qualified for the championship division at nationals in a few weeks.

“This whole season has been a great time and I hope we can continue our progress at Nationals,” senior Alexia Perez said.

The coaches are very proud of their team’s effort and attribute the recent success to the work ethic of all the athletes.

“The girls pour everything they have into each race, and it is great to see them rewarded for their hard work,” Coach Tim Cullen said.

The girls track team also finished second in the team race and won two of the six relay events on the track at the Group 2 State Relay Championships on Saturday Jan. 20 at Toms River, NJ.

The Girls shuttle hurdle relay team of Jenna Chan, Gabriela Karch, Julia Geiger and Reanda Richards won the Group 2 State Championship in that event and also broke the meet record running the fastest time in meet history at 32.50 seconds. The Girls 4×400 meter relay team of Gabriela Karch, Alexia Perez,Vivian Onnembo and Reanda Richards also won the Group 2 State Championship.

As of right now, senior Reanda Richards is ranked highly in the state in multiple events. including being fourth in hurdles and tenth in the 800 meters. The 4×400 team, which also includes Alexia Perez, Gabriela Karch and Vivian Onnembo, are ranked 40th in the nation.

On Saturday Feb. 24, the same 4×400 team finished third at the meet of champions which is the highest finish ever for any track event in school history at the meet of champions. Richards also finished seventh in the 55m hurdles that same day.

“It’s a great feeling to know that we’ve made history” senior Reanda Richards said.

Perez, Richards, Karch, Onembo, Chan and Geiger made the New Balance Nationals and will be competing from Friday, March 9 until Sunday March 11 in New York City.