This weekend, the boys Track and Field team was split in two. Runners traveled to Middletown North high school for the Lion Invitational while the throwers ventured to Hillsborough for the Raider Rumble. Saturday provided good weather which allowed for athletes to compete at their highest level. Many personal bests were broken. Each group produced multiple high-placing performances.
At Middletown North, the team was slimmed down as multiple runners were competing in the Penn Relays. Nevertheless, athletes stepped up and made an impact. Junior Tyler Pietrewicz placed third in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 59.47 seconds. Junior Cole Varner’s 4 minute and 40.52 second 1600 meter took fourth place. Sophomore Brody Toriello placed sixth in the 800 meter with a time of 2:01.96. All three performances were personal bests for these runners.
“We ran mostly younger athletes, some of whom may have a shot at cracking our counties and sectional lineups later in the season,” said head coach Chris Tafelski. “We had a number of terrific performances that show a lot of promise for the rest of this season, but also set us up for a successful year of cross country, indoor, and outdoor track next year.”
The throwers in Hillsborough also showed promising performances. In the discus, junior Noah Rubenstein and senior Sam Luzuriaga placed seventh and eighth with marks of 125 feet and 9 inches and 122 feet and 10 inches, respectively.
The Blue Devils were extremely strong in the shot put. Rubenstein took second with a 49 feet and 1 inch throw. Juniors Max Reissman and Brenton Hatch placed fourth and fifth with marks of 44 feet and 3.5 inches and 41 feet and 4.5 inches, respectively. Luzuriaga took ninth with a 40 feet and 0.5 inch throw.
In the javelin, Westfield just missed first place. Seniors Jeremy Cruz and Max Cho took second and third with marks of 156 feet and 8 inches and 153 feet and 1 inch, respectively. Junior Lincoln Meyers placed fourth with a throw of 151 feet and 1 inch while senior Nate Reynders placed ninth with 140 feet and 9 inches. Cruz and Reynders’ throws were both personal bests.
Meyers said, “We are a super consistent team; we always get past the 150-foot mark which is really good. We just wanted that first place spot.”
Nevertheless, it was a competitive performance from the javelin squad and the throwing team as a whole. Looking towards championship season, the runners and throwers need to prepare to compete at a high level in each and every event. This Thursday and Friday, Westfield will host the Union County Relays to start championship meet season.
