Just a few short weeks ago, the Blue Devils competed at the New Balance Indoor National meet, adding the feat of the second fastest distance medley relay in WHS history and earning All-American to finish off their already impressive season.
The best part about this accomplishment was that nobody went into the season expecting to be competitive in the distance medley relay. Last season, the Blue Devils graduated many seniors that led the team for years. In comparison, this year, the team was full of first-year varsity kids.
To understand how Westfield got this far, one needs to take a step back and reflect on the beginning of the season. The Blue Devils opened their season up at the Union County meet where they were unfortunately bested by Union Catholic. However, Senior Ryan Daly was still able to take the win in the 800 meter, his first of many.
The Blue Devils were able to bounce back at the North 2, Group 4 Sectional meet, winning their fifth ever program title, which happens to be their fourth in a row. Head coach Chris Tafelski said, “I was really proud of all of the leaders we had on the team, graduating the amount of kids that we did last year, for any other team would have been disastrous. But, our team has really good leaders that were able to mentor the rookies and that is the main reason we were able to walk away with the win.”
Nothing in this sport comes easy, however. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils had to match up against the No. 1 public school in the country, Toms River, who qualified so many kids and were able to outscore the Blue Devils. On the positive side, Daly won yet another 800, giving him an undefeated indoor season thus far.
A week later, the Meet of Champions came and resulted in a fourth place performance from the 4×800 meter relay. Next, Daly stepped on the track, knowing how competitive this event was and how hard it was going to be to win. He waited a while before passing the runners in first and second place at about the 500 meter-mark, then never looked back. Daly was the MOC 800 meter champion, completing the perfect, undefeated season.
“It means a ton to me to go undefeated through the state rounds. The 800 was a deep event this year and in Group 4, so just being able to be consistent and competitive through those races was great,” said Daly.
Looking forward to the spring season, Daly once again hopes to “sweep the 800 titles through to the MOC.”
The Blue Devils will open up their season hosting one of the biggest meets in New Jersey, the Blue Devil Classic, where Westfield will look to outshine the 33 other teams competing.
