In one of their first combined meets of the season, the varsity and junior varsity (JV) track and field team took home several medals and set new personal records (PRs) at the Lehman High School Lobo Relays. The JV girls’ team placed first overall and the varsity girls’ team placed third, while the JV boys’ took third and the varsity boys finished fourth.

“I think it was a really good start to the season; Westwood ended up placing really well,” Madeleine Shrull ‘21 said. “A lot of people boosted their confidence with their running and I think that’s really good.”

The meet started off with the 3200-meter race, where Shrull finished first in JV, followed by Ana Morales Mateo ‘19 who received second. Pablo Lomeli Lluis ‘21 also finished third in varsity and Nate Ferriola ‘21 placed second in JV.

The Warriors also dominated the field events by medaling in almost every event. Purvi Mujumdar ‘19 received first in the JV girls’ triple jump event, while freshmen Abby Gregorczyk and Chloe Rech took the top titles in JV girls’ discus and shot, respectively. The pole vaulters finished with first place medals in the varsity boys’, varsity girls’, and JV girls’ division with jumps from Tristan Yates ‘18, Emily Lu ‘19, and Veda Allen ‘19. Junna Castel ‘20 also placed second in JV girls.

“[The winning jump] felt rusty; I felt like I had a lot more to improve on,” Yates said. “I felt like I had a lot more in me. I’m looking forward to working on it as the season continued and hopefully making it to area once again.”

In the hurdle events, Allyah Beaty ‘18 won the varsity girls’ 300-meter race and placed second in the 100-meter, while Allen and Dana Mewhinney ‘21 received second and third in the JV girls’ 100-meter hurdles. Dylan Frazier ‘17 also contributed points to the varsity boys’ team with a third place medal in the 110-meter hurdles.

The Warriors found success in open running events such as the 100-meter sprint, where Anita Eche ‘18 finished third. District champion Jenny Todd ‘19 returned with another varsity gold medal in the 800-meter race. The JV girls swept the mile run, winning all three medals available. The 400-meter race also saw varsity runners Jacari Tate ‘19 take first place and Eric Hawkins-Gaines ‘19 place third.

“I was super anxious; I didn’t really have a reason, I guess it’s just because the people around me were just super calm,” Tate said. “For this 400 I was scared I was going to lose, so going through my head was I have to beat [the girl next to me]. By the end of the race I was in front of her but when we first went into the first 100 we were dead even.”

The relay teams triumphed at the competition, placing second in both JV 4×400-meter races. The 4×200-meter JV boys’ team with Julian Deberry ‘21, Kam Colvin ‘20, and juniors James Dong and Zach Hoover added more points by finishing first overall. The 4×100-meter varsity girls’ team placed second, while the boys’ relay received third. Finishing the meet strong, the varsity girls’ 4×400-meter relay, with Beaty, Meghan Booknis ‘20, Tate, and Todd won first by over four seconds.

“This was a really good start to the season because I PR’ed during the 4×4,” Tate said. “It built my confidence up that we won.”

The track and field team will look to bring home more titles on Saturday, March 3 as they participate in the Round Rock Invitational at the Dragon Stadium.