Olympic Conference Champions!

The Olympic Conference Championship moved to a two-day format this year and was scored by division to determine the conference champions. Based on the seeds, it looked like it would be an extremely tight race between us, Rancocas Valley, Cherry Hill East, and Eastern. My projected team scoring had:

• Rancocas Valley – 144

• Cherokee – 137.5

• Cherry Hill East – 132

• Eastern – 112.5

• Lenape – 26

Day 1 started off in the right direction for us as a team. The 4x100m relay team of Lanae Porter, Emily Couture, Savanah Human, and Tyrnee Forbeck ran a season-best 51.55 to place 6th overall and 5th in scoring.

Next up was the 800m, where Sofia Recinto, Maddie Meder, and Alyssa Suriano finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. In the 100m prelims, Emily Couture and Lanae Porter both advanced to the finals, with Emily running 13.51 for 5th and Lanae clocking 13.89 for 7th.

In the 400m hurdles, Caitlin Noga ran 1:13.69 to place 11th overall and 5th in the division.

Day 1 on the track concluded with the 3200m. Erin Healy, Maya Kumar, and Ava Guarini all ran strong races, placing 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in the division. It was Ava’s first outdoor 3200m, and she ran a lifetime best of 11:46.80, which ranks as the #7 freshman time in school history.

In the field events, Addie Lore, Brooke Garrity, and Salma Abdallah placed 1st, 3rd, and 5th in the shot put before heading across the street for the javelin, where Addie, Salma, and Kendal Oblinger finished 1st, 3rd, and 6th. In the long jump, Caitlin Noga had a solid performance with a leap of 14-2.5, placing 5th in the division.

By the end of Day 1, we had outscored our projected total by 14 points:

• Cherokee – 77

• Rancocas Valley – 71

• Eastern – 68

• Cherry Hill East – 45

• Lenape – 14

Day 2 brought much better weather. After windy and overcast conditions on Day 1, the sun came out and the wind settled down a bit. The day started with the open 400m, where Sofia Recinto ran a lifetime best of 59.85 to place 2nd in the division. Emily Couture placed 8th in 1:02.21, while Cassidy Urban ran 1:05.22.

In the 100m hurdles, Taylor Reddington ran a lifetime best of 18.32 in the prelims to advance to the finals, where she improved again to 18.30 and placed 4th in the division. The 4x800m relay team of Ava Guarini, Maya Kumar, Ella Holloway, and Gabby Urban ran 10:12.47 to place 4th overall while winning the division title.

The open 200m was the only event on the track in which we did not score, but there were still strong performances. Lanae Porter ran a lifetime best of 27.31, while Caitlin Noga broke 28 seconds for the first time, clocking 27.58.

The 1600m was one of the most exciting races of the meet. Alyssa Suriano, Maddie Meder, and Erin Healy matched up against Cherry Hill East’s top two runners. The pace went out conservatively, with the lead pack coming through 800m between 2:37.91 and 2:38.03. After a huge negative split, Alyssa Suriano became our first conference champion on the track, closing in 1:11.15 to win in 5:07.57. Maddie placed 3rd in 5:09.12, while Erin was 4th in 5:09.21.

The meet concluded on the track with the 4x400m relay. Racing in heat two of three, Alyssa Suriano led off before handing to Emily Couture, then Maddie Meder, and finally Sofia Recinto on the anchor. The girls dropped a huge season best of 4:08.86, highlighted by Sofia’s monster 58.96 anchor leg. Their time held up through the final heat to earn the overall conference championship.

In the field, Addie Lore continued her dominant conference performance by winning the discus, while Brooke Garrity placed 3rd. The meet concluded with the high jump, where Kim Moncrief placed 3rd and Cassidy Urban tied for 6th.

The final team scores tell the story:

• Cherokee – 159.5

• Rancocas Valley – 139.5

• Eastern – 121

• Cherry Hill East – 108

• Lenape – 22

When combining all divisions across the conference, the girls finished 2nd overall behind Winslow Township High School.

Next up for the distance squad, along with a few sprinters, was Haddonfield Distance Night.

The 800m kicked things off with Alyssa Suriano and Maddie Meder both posting season-best times of 2:18.36 and 2:18.90 to place 6th and 7th overall.

The next section featured several sprinters whom I convinced to step up and race the 800m:

• Cassidy Urban – 2:39.15

• Milly Lin – 2:42.67

• Caitlin Noga – 2:44.63

• Julia Tantum – 2:45.95

• Olivia Mancinelli – 2:46.37

The 1600m featured several impressive lifetime bests. Sofia Recinto, in her first official outdoor 1600m, ran 5:03.47 to place 3rd overall. That performance ranks #9 all-time outdoors in school history and #5 all-time outdoors among seniors.

Maya Kumar ran a lifetime best of 5:16.91 to place 8th, while freshman Ava Guarini ran 5:27.66 to place 14th. Gabby Urban also clocked a lifetime best of 5:34.48 to place 22nd. Continuing the string of personal bests were freshmen Lilly Hazlett (5:52.41), Genisa John (5:54.96), and Kyla Petragnani (6:41.54).

The week concluded with the Burlington County Open, where we were extremely short-handed. Senior prom was Friday night, and the freshman and sophomore class trips were scheduled for Saturday. Despite competing primarily with our juniors and a handful of underclassmen, the team still managed to place 4th overall.

Fortunately for Addie Lore, the discus competition was moved to Thursday before prom. She threw 106-5 to place 2nd, while Brooke Garrity had a huge PR of 104-0 to place 4th. Caitlin Noga ran a lifetime best of 1:12.69 to place 6th in the 400m hurdles. Taylor Reddington also continued her strong season, running a lifetime best of 18.09 in the 100m hurdles prelims before dipping under 18 seconds for the first time in the finals, running 17.87 to place 8th. The 4x800m relay team of Lilly Hazlett, Ella Holloway, Genisa John, and Gabby Urban placed 3rd in 10:34.25. Coming back in the 800m, Ava Guarini managed a 5th-place finish, while Erin Healy returned in the 1600m to finish 4th overall.

Now we turn our attention to Sectionals, which will take place this year at Lenape High School.