Buses filled the parking lot and cheers could be heard from blocks away as fans eagerly filed into Gary Kehler Stadium on Saturday morning.
“It’s a two-day party!” explained Westfield head coach Joe Berardi. “Yesterday is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s like the day before Christmas.” He added, “There is always a buzz in the air when you’re hosting a meet.”
On Saturday the Blue Devils hosted the 33rd Blue Devil Classic, and it was an event for the ages. The day’s highlight was the 4×100-meter relay of Gabby Demeter, Sean O’Brien, Darcy Scheiner and Maura Hyland. The Blue Devils placed second in the race, but not before they broke the school record with a time of 49.69 seconds.
Demeter’s contributions to the team didn’t stop on the track. She took first overall in the high jump with a height of 5 feet, with Jordan Hadel placing 11th at 4 feet 6 inches and Laura Oliveira placing 16th at 4 feet 2 inches.
The field events continued to bring success, with the javelin relay of Priscilla Dayon, Lily Norton and Morgan Hoch placing first. Dayon, the trio’s highest scorer, placed 4th overall with a throw of 101 feet 6 inches, Norton placed 6th overall at 97 feet 11 inches and Hoch placed 14th at 82 feet 9 inches. A very strong showing out of the young group as all will be returning next year.
The distance squad showed out as well, continuing the success the rest of the team had Saturday. Ciara Dursee placed third in the mile with a time of 5:20 as teammates Bella Hill and Lina Wright followed right behind with times of 5:26 and 5:32, respectively. Dursee’s big day landed her a place in the United States top 25 for mile times thus far this season.
“We just keep getting better every week,” said Berardi on his team’s success. Berardi also credited his assistant coaches, saying, “I have great assistant coaches that I really trust.”
The most anticipated race of the day was the 800, consisting of several highly ranked runners in the state. Sonia Olson and Julia Schneider did not let this faze them. Olson placed 12th with a time of 2:23, with Schneider following suit at 2:27. This race delivered multiple girls breaking the 2:20 mark, and multiple U.S. top 25 times.
The 4×200 relay consisting of O’Brien, Scheiner, Norton, and Catherine Angel placed fourth with a time of 1:47.9, falling just fractions of a second behind second and third place. The 3200 featured sophomores Emily Kapuscinski, who placed third with a time of 13:21, and Emily Drennan, who placed fifth with a time of 13:27. Senior Grace Glenn also had an impressive race in the 400 hurdles, placing fourth with a time of 1:08.
The Blue Devil Classic was a huge success for the Blue Devil girls, who will look to carry this momentum into the Penn Relays this week.
