Winter track athletes enjoy highlights

By Tanvi Ravilla ‘24

With the start of a new year, the Wardlaw+Hartridge indoor track team has been encouraged by good results and lifted team morale after their astounding performance at the NJSIAA Winter Track Relay Championship earlier in January. Throughout the season, the hard-working Rams continuously pushed themselves to practice in harsh temperatures and to prepare themselves for the upcoming meets. Some runners on the team describe the daily practices to be extremely difficult and tiring but concede that the medaling attests to their strenuous exercise.

Their efforts are a clear display that hard work pays off as the runners reached amazing times at the NJSIAA Winter Track Relay Championship on January 7, 2023 at The Bubble in Toms River. At the state relays, runners scored extremely well, lifting the morale of the whole team and establishing their athletic presence once again. At the relays, sophomores Cian Nichols ‘25, Sevastian Castillo ‘25, Tommy O’Connor ‘25, and Adam Eisdorfer ‘25 ran fantastically and finished second in the Freshman-Sophomore state championship 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:56.

Adding on to the awards for W+H, O’Connor and Eisdorfer, along with seniors Nathaniel Bravo ‘23 and Xavier Hinds ‘23, medaled second in the state sprint medley relay with a time of 4:04.

Finally, in the state relay 4x800 meters, O’Connor, Eisdorfer, Castillo, and Vineeth Reddy ‘23 placed third with a time of 9:09, setting a school record! Vineeth said that he “knew that [they] had a good chance of getting some medals” but believed it would be a bit tough. He credited the practices as he said, “After the hard workouts that we got through each practice, the team was driven to do really well at the meet, which we did.”

Senior and captain of the winter track team, Matthew Piccoli ‘23, said the team’s dynamic is good. He added, “Knowing that we have medaled at our previous meets, it is now reflected in our team that people want to be successful and start medaling more at meets.” He believes that this is “only the beginning of winning since everyone is ready to run fast and push through to get the next [medal].”

In addition to setting a school record during the state relays, sophomore Tommy O’Connor also medaled third at GMC in the 400-meter race with an astonishing time of 52.54 seconds! This huge accomplishment, along with the feats of many others, has encouraged the W+H winter track team to work harder, believe in themselves, and earn more medals.