Girls cross country took 13th place on Saturday in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park.
161 runners competed in Saturday’s Meet of Champions, 7 of which represented Westfield. Senior Sonia Olson was the first WHS athlete to finish in the meet placing 37th with a time of 20:01.00. Olson powered through a rough course, fighting through a large pack of runners to secure Westfield’s earliest finish.
“It was very exciting. It felt very rewarding for the team after training hard since July to qualify for the meet of champs” said Olson.
Olson was then followed by junior Lina Wright at 86th (20:41.00), senior Bella Hill at 120th (21:42.00), senior Stacey Salz at 130th (22:05.00), sophomore Sophia Gil at 138th (22:32.00), senior Catherine Collins at 139th (22:34.00) and sophomore Emily Drennan at 152nd (23:12.00).
“We work so hard every single day and always put everything on the line for every meet we compete at. The conditions were very tough and everyone tried their hardest. All of us are so proud of being able to attend the Meet of Champions” said Salz.
The girls are coming off an almost improbable sectional championship win and a fourth place finish in the Group 4 championship. The Blue Devils tried to carry their recent success and momentum into Saturday’s contest. They faced heavy competition from secondranked Union Catholic who, despite injuries, won the MOC’s with a total of 79 points and an average time of 19:48. Westfield placed 13th overall with a total of 251 points and an average time of 21:24.
“We were hoping to be top 10 but we got 13th. It was a solid effort and we were only a few places short of what we hoped for. We are still satisfied with our season because we won sectionals for the first time in nearly 20 years” said Olson.
Westfield’s seven runners in the \ meet is an improvement compared to its lone runner from last year, Emily Disarno. This was Westfield’s fifth appearance in the MOC’s since 2017 and its fourth top 15 finish. This meet is the final of an incredibly accomplished season.
