Westwood Girls Track Hits the Big Stage

The Westwood girls track team made it to the highest level that there is in high school track and field. The Lady Cardinals hit a milestone March 11 as they ran in the New Balance Indoor National High School Championships at the Armory Track Center in New York City. Hundreds of schools from all around the country attended one of the fastest indoor tracks in the country for this event, which lasts three days.

The 4x800 relay was first as Gabby Sloezen, Corinne Myers, Dana Bianchi and Meghan Kocher took the track. Myers and Kocher both achieved personal bests, with Myers even running six seconds faster than a 2.22.2, which used to be her personal best.

“Without a doubt the best 800 by a Westwood High School freshmen, ever,” said Head Coach George Glover.

Sloezen, Rebecca Fasano, Bianchi and Michelle Cascio then ran the 4x400, with Cascio getting the crowd excited playing catchup and getting her team to the medals. The 4x800 finished in seventh place in the emerging elite section with a time of 9.37.69, while the 4x400 finished sixth with a time of 4.02.71.

The excitement and importance of being a part of an event like this cannot be understated as it can prove to be important even for the future.

“These runners are elite and expect to use this experience to improve their game,” said Glover. “They are tough, or as they like to say, fast and dangerous, and they will be the core of a great spring track team.”

The town and athletic department were behind this team and knew how hard they worked to get to where they got over the course of this winter track season.

“It would have been easy to become overwhelmed by the atmosphere of a national championship--last meet, best runners, close competition,” said Glover. “They were mentally prepared for it, and were able to use the excitement to psych up, not pull back, as you often see people do in their first chance in a really big competition.”

This team will now look toward the Penn Relays, which is the largest track meet in the world, along with the oldest in the United States, as it will be an exciting spring track season. The winter season will not soon be forgotten, though.

“It's been a memorable season, a season of firsts,” said Glover. “First time at the National Championship, first time all-county for a relay, first in the record books for so many relays, not just the ones they ran here. This truly has been a historic team, but in the end a team of great athletes and even more admirable individuals with so many qualities. I think they will remember it always, too.”