By Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
Although the girls’ 4×400-meter relay team at Woodbridge High School did not win a state championship or achieve the clocking it had zeroed in on, the runners were proud of setting a new school record in the event.
On June 10 at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions (MOC) competition held at Northern Burlington County Regional High School in Columbus, the relay team of Taiwo Ibironke, Elisanett Marine, Kaylah Davis and Trinity Eason finished with a time of 3:54.22, which established a new school mark.
Their final clocking enabled Woodbridge to place eighth in the MOC race.
“We wanted to get to the 3:50 mark, but we obviously came a little short of that,” Marine said. “We did get the school record though, so we’re happy with that.”
The team had to tackle the challenge of running faster than other schools that performed in the trials held earlier in the afternoon.
“At first, we were a little nervous because the team that came in first place in the heat before us had a [time of] 3:51,” Ibironke said.
“But we trusted each other, and we knew we could reach that mark,” Davis added.
Winslow Township High School, a state power, won the 4×400 title at the MOC with a time of 3:47.41.
Union Catholic High School had captured the event last year with a time of 4:00.44.
Woodbridge is now looking ahead to the National Championships that will be run June 22-25 in Sacramento, California.
“We’re hoping for that 3:50 mark at nationals,” Eason said. “If we could do that, it would end the year off perfectly.”
Eason also competed in the 400 hurdles, where she ended in 13th place with a clocking of 1:03.82, and the 800 run, where she finished in 20th place with a time of 2:18.13.
The Woodbridge boys’ relay team placed 12th in the 4×100 with a time of 42:81.