New York state of mind
Sunday March 2nd saw the girls compete in the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze sports complex in Staten Island. We were basically starting the meet off and ending it. The first event on the oval track was the 4x800m relay and the last event was the 4x400m relay. The 4x800m relay is a showcase event that only accepts the top 24 teams entered. We came in as the 10th seed with the 9:42 that the girls had run at Ocean Breeze earlier in the season. I down seeded that to 9:51 to make sure we were not in the fast heat since we weren't running three of our top girls since they advanced in individual races. Having the relay at the start of the meet really hinders distance girls from trying to double. When the team won it in 2022, it was the last event on the track.
I had challenged the girls to run under 9:55 which considering all of their pr's seemed like a reasonable goal. Freshman Erin Healy led us off. She was in the back of the chase group in 11th place when she opened up a monster last lap to move us up to 4th. She split of 2:26.95 which is her fastest split of the year and first time under 2:27. She handed off to junior Sofia Recinto. Sofia ran calculated splits to slowly move up to third place and then with another monster last lap put us in 2nd place. She ran a crazy split of 2:22.93. Her previous best was 2:29. Next up was senior Grace Wojciechowski. She got out great, then just clicked off even splits. She maintained 2nd place splitting 2:28.87. This was her best 800 ever and first time under 2:29. Senior Emily Butler carried the baton the rest of the way for us. She went out a little too hard, but still managed to hold herself together. The team dropped back two spots to finish in 4th place. Emily split 2:31.10 which was just a hair off her pr of 2:29. They stopped the clock at 9:49.84 and after the seeded heat was over they finished 10th over all. They were less than 2 seconds from making the podium. That time is also #20 indoors all time.
The 1600m was next on the track for us and saw Megan Niglio and Maddie Meder both in the first heat of 2. Coming off of States, Megan's best time this season was 5:08 and Maddie's was 5:11. They were seeded 19th and 24th. The race went off and they quickly got caught up in the front pack. They toggled between 5th, 6th, and 7th up until two laps to go. With two laps to go, Megan moved herself up to 5th place and Maddie was holding strong in 7th. With a solid closing lap, Megan moved herself up to 3rd place and Maddie finished in 7th. Megan just missed running her lifetime best stopping the clock at 5:03.56 just .35 off her lifetime best, and Maddie ran 5:11.53. They finished 12th and 16th
We then moved on to the 800m with Alyssa Suriano going in as the 23rd seed. She was in the first heat of 2. Clocking a first lap in 31.75, she came through the line in 6th place right in the middle of the pack. She settled in and then went 35.53 for lap 2 and fell back to 10th place. Lap 3 she continued to click them off going 35.94 and moved up to 8th. She had a great closing lap running 34.85 and moved up to 4th stopping the clock at 2:17.86. over 2 seconds than her previous best. She finished 14th overall and that time moves her up to #4 all time indoors. What a great finish for her first time running individually at MOC's.
The last event for us was the 4x400m relay that grabbed the last wildcard advancement. The girls ran 4:11.17 at States and were the 26th seed. We challenged the girls to run under 4:10. They were in the 2nd of six sections. Veronica Ashcraft led off for us and took the lead coming in off the break and never looked back. She split 1:01.55 which is her fastest indoor 400m split to date. She handed off to Sofia Recinto. Sofia lost a spot and dropped back into 2nd, but still managed to split 1:02.16 which is also her fastest indoor 400m split. Megan NIglio was next up for us running 1:02.87. We fell back one more spot and were now in 3rd. Freshman Emily Couture carried the final leg covering the two laps in 1:02.64. The clock stopped at 4:09.22. That time was 22nd over all and a huge season best time. The girls met every challenge that we asked of them today. It was also great to catch up with Caitlin O'Malley and her husband, sorry Bertheaud at the meet as they traveled up to Ocean Breeze to watch the meet.. She will always be Malley to me
In what seems like a quick turn around, the 4x800m relay team headed up to the Armory in New York City on Tuesday March 4th to compete in the Eastern States Championship. In a meet that continues to lose the prestige it once had, I without a doubt say every year that we are not coming back to this meet. We haven't put together a loaded 4x8 since State relays and entered one with the goal of running a Penn Relays qualifier. On paper we were the top seed with the 9:42 that we had run earlier that year at the Ott center. There were ten teams in the race and we knew that some were most likely in the same boat as us. Our line up changed slightly due to Sofia Recinto posting a huge pr at MOC's. Alyssa Suriano led off. There were two teams that got out very quick, then a chase pack. Alyssa was in the middle of that chase group. Going into lap 3, one of the girls in front of her tripped and caused a little jumble. Luckily she stayed on her feet. She then closed very well on the last lap to pull us up into 2nd place almost tied with first. Megan Niglio took the second leg and stayed right with the leader for a few laps, before taking over first place. She handed off to Sofia Recinto with a slight lead. Sofia continued with keeping the team in first and even opened it up a little. She almost got tripped up on the railing, but managed to keep her feet grounded. Maddie Meder was our anchor and never looked back after getting the baton. Luckily she had teams in front of her that she was able to focus on and chase down. When the clock stopped, it was at 9:21.64. That time is a South Jersey #1 time, New Jersey #3 and US # 18. Rueben Frank wrote a great article on it which can be found here. That time is also #15 in South Jersey history. The splits were as follows:
Alyssa Suriano 2:20.06 #8 all time indoor split
Megan Niglio 2:19.19 #9 all time indoor split
Sofia Recinto 2:23.93
Maddie Meder 2:18.48 #4 all time indoor split
Their time is also #6 all time in school indoor track history.
Here is the top 15 4x800m relays in indoor school history
4 x 800m Relay | |||||
Time | Year | Names | Meet | Location | |
1 | 9:07.27 | 2021-22 | Kelsey Niglio(2:12.85), Kerry O'Day(2:21.48), Megan Niglio(2:20.25), Nikki Clifford(2:12.70) | New Balance Nationals 4th | Armory |
2 | 9:07.81 | 2021-22 | Kelsey Niglio(2:15.0), Kerry O'Day(2:21.4), Megan Niglio(2:22.1), Nikki Clifford(2:14.8) | SJTCA #16 1st | Bennett Indoor Complex |
3 | 9:13.42 | 2021-22 | Kelsey Niglio(2:15.3), Kerry O'Day(2:21.0), Megan Niglio(2:20.0), Nikki Clifford(2:11.3) | Meet of Champions 1st | Bennett Indoor Complex |
4 | 9:19.80 | 2022-23 | Megan Niglio(2:20.56), Kerry O'Day(2:21.35), Maddie Meder(2:22.51), Kelsey Niglio(2:15.39) | Millrose Games 6th | Armory |
5 | 9:20.31 | 2022-23 | Megan Niglio(2:21.06), Kerry O'Day(2:18.76), MAddie Meder(2:24.68), Kelsey Niglio(2:15.82) | New Balance Indoor Nationals 11th | The Track at New Balance |
6 | 9:21.64 | 2024-25 | Alyssa Suriano 2:20.06, Megan Niglio 2:19.19, Sofia Recinto 2:23.93, Maddie Meder 2:18.48 | Eastern States 1st | Armory |
7 | 9:23.85 | 2021-22 | Kelsey Niglio(2:17.8), Kerry O'Day(2:25.9), Megan Niglio(2:23.7), Nikki Clifford(2:16.3) | Liberty Premier Invitational 1st | Liberty University |
8 | 9:37.11 | 2011-12 | Jess Wright(2:19.10), Sarah Robbie(2:26.34), Megan Lacy(2:19.17), Alexa Chiarelli(2:32.50) | Eastern States | Armory |
9 | 9:37.42 | 2023-24 | Alyssa Suriano(2:29.43), Megan Niglio(2:23.23), Maddie Meder(2:26.27), Kerry O'Day(2:18.50) | SJTCA #17 1st | Ocean Breeze |
10 | 9:39.71 | 2022-32 | Kerry O'Day (2:24.7), Maddie Meder (2:31.6), Megan Niglio (2:23.0), Kelsey Niglio (2:20.1) | Conference Championship 1st | Bennett Indoor Complex |
11 | 9:40.6 | 2006-07 | Kristen Lewis(2:28.9), Jess Lowinger(2:21.9), Alison Weeks(2:29.0), Linda Sierra(2:20.8) | Indian Hills Invitational 1st | Armory |
12 | 9:40.92 | 2023-24 | Megan Niglio(2:24.64), Alyssa Suriano(2:28.47), Kerry O'Day(2:19.79), Maddie Meder(2:28.00) | New Balance Nationals 18th | The Track at New Balance |
13 | 9:41.61 | 2022-23 | Kerry O'Day(2:26.3), Maddie Meder(2:29.9), Megan Niglio(2:26.2), Kelsey Niglio(2:19.1) | State Gr 4 Relays 1st | Bennett Indoor Complex |
14 | 9:41.87 | 2021-22 | Kelsey Niglio(2:20.3), Kerry O'Day(2:25.7), Megan Niglio(2:27.0), Nikki Clifford(2:28.7 | State Gr 4 Relays 1st | Bennett Indoor Complex |
15 | 9:42.41 | 2024-25 | Alyssa Surriano(2:26.04), Megan Niglio(2:26.10), Erin Healy(2:27.44), Maddie Meder(2:22.83) | SJTCA #17 2nd | Ocean Breeze |
16 | 9:44.57 | 1999-00 | Melissa Razo, Leanna Argue, Julie Harms, Michelle Bilicki | Eastern States 7th | Armory |
17 | 9:46.34 | 2023-24 | Alyssa Suriano(2:26.42), Brooke Hibbs(2:23.66), Lainy Bromley(2:32.23), Megan Niglio(2:24.05) | Meet of Champions 9th | Ocean Breee |
18 | 9:48.07 | 2007-08 | Emily Kulcyk(2:27.5), Amy Stansbury(2:31.2), Lindsay Czuba(2:26.9), Jess Lowinger(2:22.4) | SJTCA II 3rd | Bennett Indoor Complex |
19 | 9:49.79 | 2005-06 | Linda Sierra(2:23.9), Amy Stansbury(2:31.9), Lindsay Czuba(2:33.8), Lisa Burkholder(2:19.9) | Eastern States 11th | Armory |
Here is the top 800m indoor splits
800m | ||
1 | Nicole Clifford | 2:11.3 |
2 | Kelsey Niglio | 2:12.85 |
3 | Monica Olkowski | 2:17.6 |
4 | Maddie Meder | 2:18.48 |
5 | Kerry O'Day | 2:18.50 |
6 | Ally Masoero | 2:18.7 |
7 | Lisa Burkholder | 2:18.7 |
8 | Megan Niglio | 2:19.19 |
9 | Alyssa Suriano | 2:20.06 |
10 | Linda Sierra | 2:20.8 |
11 | Sarah Robbie | 2:21.3 |
12 | Jess Lowinger | 2:21.9 |
13 | Megan Charbeneau | 2:22.1 |
14 | Emily Kulcyk | 2:22.8 |
15 | Megan Lacy | 2:22.8 |
16 | Brooke Hibbs | 2:23.66 |
17 | Sofia Recinto | 2:23.93 |
18 | Megan O'Leary | 2:24.6 |
The bus ride home saw Chipotle, a BLT for me from the deli right around the corner from the armory, and a lot of smiling faces. Discussion now turned towards Nationals. Of the 4 that raced tonight, only 3 were already going. It requires us to leave one day earlier so that we now would race on Thursday. So, when I say that they were happy when this discussion came up, I really mean they were happy.
So next week for us will be spent up in Boston. Once again the Alumni Association makes this trip possible covering the cost of hotels and entry fees.
Thursday, Erin Healy will race in the freshman mile(2:20) and the 4x800m relay will run that evening.(6:10)
Friday evening is the DMR(5:35)
Saturday evening is the 4 x Mile.(6:50)
Both Megan Niglio(mile) and Alyssa Suriano(800m) qualified individually, but would rather run as a relay than do an open event. That is one thing I love about this group, they want to do so much for each other. Thank you all again for the support and allowing our programs to excel.
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