Westlake Girls Win SWC Track & Field Championships

In what was a complete team effort in which every athlete, point, and finish played a crucial role in the team’s success, the girls track and field team, by a mere four points, won the SWC Track and Field Championships in their final season in the Southwestern Conference. The 2021 championship is the first for the team since 2007 and the sixth in the program’s 48 year history.

The girls started the scoring on Wednesday, with M.E. Hargett earning the team their first points of the meet with a 6th place finish in the High Jump, narrowly missing her season best but getting the team on the scoreboard with her result. Soon after, the 4×800 team of Ellie Irwin, Stephanie Nivellini, Sydney Peer, and Sarah Peer, ran a fantastic come-from-behind race to not only be crowned SWC champions in the event, but to also re-set their own school record in the event by almost two seconds. In doing so, they became the first WHS team since 1993 (Manly, Karas, Ross, Lokar, 1993) to win SWC’s in the 3,200m relay (and only the fourth ever in the program’s 48 seasons), and after day one of the two day finals, the team as a whole ended the day in 5th place, 11 points behind the leaders.

On Friday, the field events once again started the scoring for the team as the Discus duo of senior co-captain Julia Houser and sophomore Macey Brennan enjoyed fantastic performances, all the more impressive as Julia fought through a late season injury while Macey was competing at the same time on the other side of the facility in the Pole Vault. In spite of these difficulties, both girls put in admirable performances, with Macey throwing a new PR to take 3rd overall while Julia rallied to finish runner-up with an All-SWC display.

Back on the track, Sophia Kontak continued her fantastic season, running a great 100m race to not only set a season best, but to also take 1st place in the event, becoming only the second runner in program history (Lisa Grey, 1993) to do so. Sophia would later earn valuable points for the team in the 200 (5th), 4×100 (4th), and 4×200 (5th), while fellow sprinter Colette Wagner’s contributions in the 100 (7th) and 4×100 (5th) would prove valuable in the team’s performance as the meet went on.

The relays continued to score major points on the day, highlighted by Madison Shami (4×100, 4×200), Sydney Peer (4×200), Claire Hoelscher (4×100), and Sarah Colman (4×200). Sarah also scored extremely well in the open events, earning a season best PR and runner-up finish in the 400 as well as a 7th place finish in the 200.

In the hurdles, junior Emma Hennessey continued the All-SWC individual finishes for the team, earning a 2nd place finish in the 300 Hurdles with her season best performance as she competed against two of the best hurdlers in the area.

The distance group ran several outstanding races, first led by Sarah Peer and Ellie Irwin in the 1600 as both ran new PR’s to finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Sarah, competing against one of the best runners in the region, enjoyed both an All-SWC finish as well as a new school record, breaking the previous mark (Charlotte Tate, 2009) by over two seconds. Sarah returned later in the meet to compete in the 800m, not only running a fantastic race, but winning it as well, becoming the first WHS athlete to do so in over a decade (Tate, ’09). Joining her in the scoring, and setting a new career best, was sister Sydney Peer, who’s 6th place finish helped pull the team within two points of the leaders with two events remaining.

In the 3200, Stephanie Nivellini and Ellie led the pack the entire race, slowly distancing themselves from the group to finish one-two, with Ellie running a particularly gutsy race in her first ever competitive 3200, becoming only the third athlete in team history to finish runner-up with her All-SWC 2nd place performance. Stephanie, setting a new PR in the two mile run, dominated the competition the final two laps and now owns the second fastest individual time in program history, becoming the first ever WHS athlete to be crowned the individual champion in the event.

Heading into the final event of the meet, the girls held a slim lead going into the 4×400, needing at least a 4th place finish to secure the team title. Sarah Peer led off the event before handing the baton to Madison, both of whom had already competed in multiple events during the day, but both of whom enjoyed season best splits during their portions of the relay. Ava Kontak did the same, running against some of the best competition she’s faced all season long to also run her best time all season long. Despite these great efforts, anchor Sarah Colman received the baton in 8th place, meaning she would need to pass several runners in order for the team to claim the championship. And though running tired after competing in three events earlier in the day, she did just that, weaving in and out of those in front of her the final 150 meters in an amazing display, moving from 8th place to 3rd place when she crossed the finish line, thus securing the championship for her team in what turned out to be the closest SWC finish in over 25 years and the second most narrow finish in SWC history.

Team Results

Westlake – 121
Avon – 117
Berea-Midpark – 96
Amherst Steele – 81
Avon Lake – 80
Midview – 66
North Ridgeville – 58
Olmsted Falls – 40
North Olmsted – 3

Full results

First Team All-SWC

Ellie Irwin (4×800)

Sophia Kontak (100)

Stephanie Nivellini (4×800, 3200)

Sarah Peer (4×800, 800)

Sydney Peer (4×800)

Second Team All-SWC

Sarah Colman (400)

Emma Hennessey (300H)

Julia Houser (Discus)

Ellie Irwin (3200)

Sarah Peer (1600)

Thanks to all the parents, teammates, and coaches and athletes in the SWC for a fantastic meet and a fantastic week and thanks as well to Joe Magill of the Morning Journal for his reporting as well as Paul Heyse of the Chronicle Telegram for his reporting as well his extensive history and records of the SWC.

Good luck to the girls as they will travel back to Amherst Steele next week for Districts.

By Travis Haselswerdt