After the football season, if you are near Kehler Stadium, it is typically quite tame, without a lot of fanfare. But every year, around spring break, there is one day where Kehler is at its loudest. The annual Blue Devil Classic hosted almost 35 teams on one of the rainiest days of the year.
To lead off for the Blue Devils was the 4×100 meter relay of seniors Charlie Prieto, Charlie Vanecek, Tyler Pietrewicz and sophomore Shaquann McKenith. They claimed fourth place with a time of 44.7 seconds.
Then, with an extremely short turnaround, both of the Blue Devils distance medley relay teams exploded out from the line and claimed first and second in the meet. The Westfield A-lineup of seniors Ryan Daly, Cole Varner, Vanecek and sophomore Nikos Davlouros got first place with a time of 10:57.
However, there was a little bit more planning in this race than met the eye. On Westfield’s B-lineup was junior Brody Toriello who was a usual member of the Westfield DMR A squad. Head coach Chris Tafelski “deliberately set up the [Daly] versus [Toriello] matchup to help Brody get accustomed to a fast early pace. We wanted to create a new race situation that Brody hasn’t experienced in the past.”
Varner also reflected on his race and said, “Even though it was our most stacked event and knowing we were supposed to win it, it felt good to loosen up to the outdoors and get ready for the more important races ahead.”
Afterward, the 4×800 meter relay was composed of all sophomores. The team of Brent Kengeri, Robbie Epstein, Zach Turetsky, and Alex Stepanov placed fifth with a time of 8:49.
Then came the short medley relay with Pietrewicz, Prieto, McKenith, and Toriello, which claimed first place with a time of 3:41.
Despite the harsh weather, Toriello was proud of his performance due to the heavy rain and wind. “I knew there was going to be bad conditions, so I came prepared and didn’t really make it get in my head. I ran the race like any other race, trying to get my mind off of the fact that it was so cold, rainy, and windy,” said Toriello.
Now, looking off the track and in the field events, the senior pole vaulting squad of Andrew Geocos and Liam Morris posted the seventh best total in WHS history with a combined height of 24 feet, good enough to take home first place.
Then, the final event of the day would be the shot put relay composed of seniors Noah Rubenstein and Brenton Hatch, as well as sophomore Jayson Alves, winning the event with a combined distance of 133-10 1/2.
After a successful day, Varner believes the key to an even more successful season is to “keep working hard and don’t change anything we have done in the past two seasons.”
