Westwood’s track and field team began their spring break at the 2017 McNeil High School Mav Relays on Friday, March 10, where athletes took home several titles and new personal records. Despite the rainy forecast, the meet was able to proceed without any problems.

Even with the fierce competition from other schools, athletes were still able to find success in their events. Varsity member Madison Couch ‘17 and JV member Sydney Heard ‘19 both took home fourth place in shot put with throws of 39 feet, 7 inches and 28’02”, respectively. Couch also placed second in discus throw, throwing a distance of 104 feet, 10 inches. Heard took home the title in JV girls’ discus throw with a distance of 85’01”, and Hayden Barrow ‘18 landed himself in fourth place after throwing 115’08.5” in the JV boys’ discus throw.

Aside from discus, students were able to place in pole vault, high jump, triple jump, and long jump. Tori Clitheroe ‘17 leaped to sixth place with a personal record (PR) of 15 feet 9 inches in the varsity girls’ long jump, while Alyse Gamble ‘17 cleared a new PR of 5 feet in the varsity girls’ high jump to take home third.

“[It was] personally one of my better jumps, but it always depends on who’s at the meet,” Clitheroe said. “Here I got sixth place because McNeil and some of the other schools that are here are a lot more competitive, but at my last meet that would’ve gotten me second place.”

Set at 7 feet, the starting height for the JV girls’ pole vault proved to be a huge challenge. Linette Page ‘19 managed to clear 7 feet 6 inches to take home second place, while Ariel Whitehead ‘17 cleared 8’06” to land in fifth in the varsity girls’ division. Oliver Yu ‘20 soared 39 feet 9 inches in the JV boys’ triple jump and earned fourth place, out jumping his nearest competitor by 2 inches.

Though the day began with field events, many athletes competed in running events as well. Balancing participation in both field and track events proved to be a challenge for many.

“I did four track and one field event, overall it was a really fun and tiring experience since almost all of my events were back to back,” Page said. “Hopefully I won’t be doing as many events in the future so I can focus on specific ones and do better in them.”

Two events not usually offered at other meets included the 4×800 relay and the 4×100/110 shuttle hurdle relay. The 4×800 varsity boys’ relay team consisting of Zach Shrull ‘19, Marley Schiesz ‘18,  Harris Quraishi ‘20, and Joseph Abreu ‘19 found themselves in sixth place with a time of 9 minutes, 16.12 seconds.

Coming 3 seconds short of beating the meet record, the 4×100 shuttle hurdle varsity girls’ relay team made up of Miranda Primm ‘17, Jenny Xu ‘19, Allyah Beaty ‘18, and Veda Allen ‘19 took home second place, crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 7.88 seconds. Though the athletes performed well, they continue to set goals for themselves to cut down on their times.

“I think I did pretty well, [but] I want to work on bringing my lead leg down faster so I can shave a little bit of time off,” Primm said. “I’m floating over the hurdles too, so I gotta stop doing that.”

The remaining running events began at 4 p.m., starting with the 4×100 relay, where both varsity and JV boys teams placed fifth. The varsity team made up of juniors Tristan Yates, Jaikem Murphy, Sean Brady, and Akil Akshintala ran a time of 44.47 seconds, while the JV team consisting of Malachi Woodward ‘20, Yu, Ryan Bassett ‘19, and Eric Hawkins ‘20 finished with 45.96.

Jenny Todd ‘19 continued her winning streak in the varsity girls’ 800-meter run, bringing home the meet title in a PR of 2 minutes, 18.91 seconds. Quraishi took home first as well in the freshman boys’ 800 with a time of 2:15.31.

The 100-meter hurdles followed the 800, where Beaty placed sixth in the varsity division, crossing the line in 16.93 seconds. Junna Castel ‘20 took home fifth place in the JV division, finishing with a new PR of 18.26.

In the 100-meter dash, Woodward placed fifth in the JV boys’ division, running neck and neck with his nearest competitor to out lean him by one thousandth of a second with a time of 12.148. Yates earned third place in the varsity boys’ division, running an 11.83.  

Following the 100 was the 4×200 relay, where the JV boys’ team took home sixth, with Bassett, Yu, Hawkins, and Kameron Colvin ‘20 working together to cross the line in 1 minute, 40.61 seconds. Gamble and Todd placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400-meter run. Both were able to bring home a PR, with Gamble finishing in 59.75 seconds, and Todd in 1:02.10.

“My events I feel like I ran them hard and I ran them well,” Gamble said. “My goal for my 400 would be [to run] 58 or 57; I’m almost there, I just need to have better competition to push myself, but also learn to push myself by myself.”

In the last hurdles event of the night, the 300-meter hurdles, Castel earned sixth place with a PR of 52.76 seconds in the JV girls’ division. The 200-meter dash followed, where Gamble continued her success in her events by placing fourth in the varsity girls’ division, running a time of 26.42 seconds. Woodward and Yu participated in the JV boys’ division, where once again Woodward out leaned his nearest competitor by sixth thousandths of a second to cross the line in a PR of 24.331 seconds. Yu took home a new PR as well, following close behind with a time of 24.53.

The night finished off with the 4×400 relay, where the varsity girls’ team consisting of Anita Eche ‘18, Gamble, Todd, and Jacari Tate ‘19 placed fourth with a time of 4 minutes, 14.33 seconds. After a day filled with PRs and titles, the team looks forward to districts, held in April.

“Goals related to track are more team-related,” Will Jennings ‘18 said. “I want Westwood to place in districts and for us to have a fun time, but also get good times.”

The Warriors’ next meet will be on Saturday, March 25 in Marble Falls. Complete results for this meet can be found here.