Here at Wayne Hills High School, Spring Track and Field has been a very popular sport recently, with many Hills athletes having a successful season. At the Passaic County Outdoor Track Championships, Wayne Hills placed 3rd in the girls division and 5th in the boys division.
Every single athlete on these teams contributed to these rankings in some way. They might have been earning 1st place in every single race, or maybe by cheering on their teammates on the sidelines, but everyone helped in some way. Some of the athletes that helped reach these rankings include Tanner Newman, Tyler DiMarco, Michael Cantilli, Wilson Stansfield, Courtnie Smalls, Grace DiToro, and Sabrina Wisniewski, who all ran in the Passaic County Outdoor Track Championship.
Some athletes that helped the boys earn 5th in their bracket are Newman, a senior, who ran, getting 3rd in the 400 meter dash finals and DiMarco, a junior, who earned 4th in the 800 meter dash finals. Cantilli, another Junior, earned 5th place in the 1600 meter run finals, and Stansfield, a senior earned 6th 3200 meter run finals. A few athletes that helped the girls get placed 3rd in their bracket are Smalls, a sophomore, who earned 1st 800 meter run finals, and DiToro, a senior, who earned 2nd 800 meter run finals. Wisniewski, a freshman, placed 2nd in the high jump finals.
Although winning is a very important goal of every sport, the memories made along the way are also a very important part of every journey. Abigail Kolano is a freshman here at Wayne Hills who does the 800 and pole vault. Her P.R. for the 800 was 2.47 and for pole vault, it was 6 ‘6. Her favorite race was against P.V. because she said that she “really pushed myself that race”. The challenge that she felt she faced this season was training because “you run endlessly because it’s a longer distance.” She felt that her teammates were very helpful and supportive, and her favorite team memory was the coaches race because “it was really funny and we were all just screaming”.
Two Spring Track and field athletes were asked what their favorite race was, what their P.R was, what the hardest challenge they had to face this season was, and why.
Allyson Galka, another Wayne Hills Freshman, does the 400. Her P.R. was 70 seconds and a challenge that she faced this season was during practice and that you had to “keep a good mentality to get through all of the miles.” She says that her teammates were “really supportive and everyone cheers each other on.” Her favorite team memory was “freshman takeover” because after the meet, “all of the freshmen went out to get food.”
Both of these athletes say with full confidence that they are absolutely going to do this sport again next year because of how much they enjoyed it.
Behind track players receiving medals and personal records, coaches provided countless hours into our athletes’ growth. Let us recognize some of our coaches: Coach Staggers, Coach Caamaño, Coach Rousseau, and many more. All of these coaches put their time and effort into spring track, making the team better in spirit and skills.
To wrap up the Wayne Hills spring track season, I think we can all say that it was truly astonishing. Let us congratulate all of our players who competed at the Passaic County Outdoor Track Championships. This year’s seniors leave behind a great legacy to be remembered. What concludes our season are all the memories and milestones achieved along the way.
