This weekend, Franklin Field invited the best track and field teams from around the country to the 128th annual Penn Relays. Westfield was in attendance, sending a 4×400-meter relay and a distance medley relay. And despite being surrounded by stout competition, Westfield impressed across the board with a number of gritty performances.
The first day saw Westfield place second in its heat of the 4×400. Jimmy Gildea led off for the Blue Devils, running 53.63 seconds, handing the baton to Noah Petrassi in fifth place. Despite Petrassi’s personal best of 52.10, he was unable to improve Westfield’s position in the race. But then Joe Pierro got the baton, and his time of 50.26 brought Westfield to third place. And with a strong anchor performance of 51.29 from Emanuel Gayanilo, the relay improved to second place, missing the win by just 1 second.
“Our guys definitely stepped up to the challenges of heightened competition,” said Pierro. “We knew who we were and didn’t care who other people in the race were because we were confident in our own abilities.”
This theme persisted into day two and became especially important when the weather turned for the worse. A combination of spitting rain and swirling wind made racing brutal, but this did not faze Westfield’s resilient DMR, which placed fourth in the historic “DMR Championship of America.”
Liam Maurillo led off for Westfield in the 1200 leg, just his second time ever running the event. Maurillo set a personal best with a time of 3 minutes 7 seconds, handing off the baton to Pierro in fourth place for the 400 leg. Pierro went on to set another personal best, breaking the 50-second mark in the 400 with a time of 49.56. That PR for Pierro improved the Blue Devils to third place which Johnny Scalia maintained throughout his 800, which he ran in 1:56. Avery Kieth was unable to hold on to third and, despite running 4:23, was bested by Delbarton anchor Colin Boler and his time of 4:11.
Despite these terrible conditions, the Blue Devils’ time of 10:17 was good enough to place them sixth all time in WHS history in the DMR. Coming off this impressive performance, the Blue Devils will look forward to this week, where they will host the Union County Relays on Thursday and Friday at Gary Kehler Stadium.
Girls Show Out at Penn Relays, Despite Weather Conditions
This year marked the 128th annual Penn Relays held annually at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, and this year the Blue Devils were in attendance, sending both a 4×100 meter relay and a 4×400 meter relay.
The 4×100 of Lily Norton, Darcy Scheiner, Sean O’Brien and Cat Angel lit up the show on the opening day of the event. The Blue Devils placed first in their heat, with a time of 49.82 seconds, against incredible competition from across the country. It was the first time in over a decade that the Blue Devil girls are bringing home hardware, according to head coach Joe Berardi. The relay set a school record just a week prior at the Blue Devil Classic and is continuing to make big strides with three runners returning next season. The time of 49.82 was good enough to place 66th overall in the meet in a pool of over 500 relays.
On day two, the 4×400 of Grace Glenn, Maura Hyland, Gabby Demeter and O’Brien took to the track. A rainy day, slowing down the track, making it difficult.
“Seeing the weather can definitely take a huge mental toll on someone going through the race, no matter how prepared they are,” said Glenn. She added, “We did our best to remember that no matter what happens, every team is racing in this weather, and that we have to power through and fight through the rain.”
That is just what they did. Despite the condition of the track, the girls managed to take fifth place in their heat with a time of 4:12. The time put them in 167th place in a group of over 400 relays, an impressive feat.
“We really just want to go out, do our best and continue a great season,” said Glenn.
The Blue Devils will look toward Thursday and Friday to continue a great season, when they will compete in the Union County Relays at Gary Kehler Stadium.
