This winter has been an intense but nonetheless triumphant season for SHS’s track team, with several of its runners having shattered personal, school, and county records. But this was no easy feat: the track team trained hard everyday through workouts and endurance runs, their preparation and commitment culminating in a remarkable journey to Nationals.
At Section 1 State Qualifiers, Zoe Dichter ’25, Eva Gibney ’25, Shannon Kelly ’24, and Leia Patel ’26 placed second for the 4x800m relay, advancing on to States on March 2nd. There, they came in second place with a time of 9:08:52, beating the school record by a stellar 17 seconds and performing the 5th fastest time in all of Westchester County history as well as the 9th fastest time in Section 1 history! Moreover, the girls also ran their personal records for the season, with their split times of 2:17.28, 2:20.64, 2:14.08, and 2:16.54, respectively.
Then came Nike Indoor Nationals: from March 8th to March 10th, the track team competed in four events: high jump, sprint medley relay (SMR), 4x800m, and 4x400m, and the three nights were all truly ones to remember.
The 4x800m runners—Dichter, Gibney, Kelly, and Patel—who ran at States the week before once again delivered an exceptional performance at Nationals with a time of 9:14.58, placing them 4th in the Championship League for the event.
Furthermore, Ari Sobel ’24, Maria Roberts ’26, Patel, and Kelly—in the order of 200m, 200m, 400m, 800m—had broken the nationals standard for the SMR earlier in the season, which automatically qualified them for Nationals. The four girls came in unbelievably strong with a SMR time of 4:03.75, breaking the school record and ultimately placing 1st in the Championship League.
We all immediately started screaming and jumping up and down. We were excited but in complete shock.
— Leia Patel
Kelly, one of the captains of the winter track team who, along with Patel, ran both the 4x800m and the SMR at Nationals, was proud to see all of their effort and dedication come together and pay off. “It was probably one of the best moments in my entire life. We didn’t win because we got lucky, we won because we worked for it and pushed ourselves more than we ever thought was possible,” Kelly expressed.
SHS Track and Field Coach Vincent Modaferri agreed, shared that the coaching staff could not be prouder of the team’s hard work and perseverance. “They not only did this for themselves, they did it for their community,” Coach Modafferi said.
Congratulations to the track team for concluding their winter season with two All-American titles!
