Chris Sweeney competes on venues that are oval and rectangular, but the rewards that he has been getting from his efforts recently are quite round: Like the three medals he got from winter track last week.
At the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1 championships for winter track on February 1, Sweeney placed second in the 400m with a time of 52.8 and third in the 55m high hurdles in 8.47. He also helped drive the boys 4 x 400m relay team to a fifth-place finish with a 3.44 time. Assuming the snow doesn’t shut us down for good, Sweeney will be one of seven members of the Verona High School winter track team to compete at the state group championships on February 14. For his achievements on the track oval, Chris Sweeney is the Verona Sports Boosters Senior Athlete of the Week.
As we indicated at the beginning, track is hardly Sweeney’s only activity. He has been a stalwart defender on the Maroon & White varsity soccer squad, often making a mad dash in the fall between soccer practice at Centennial and the VHS parking lot for marching band practice. Sweeney has provided four years of a screaming trumpet top line to Verona Jazz & Beyond and also the VHS concert band. In the last two years, he has also made the North Jersey Region Wind Ensemble and the New Jersey All-State Band. And in between all this, Sweeney keeps up top grades in math and science.
When Sweeney was inducted last year into the National Honor Society, VHS math and computer science teacher Rich Wertz talked about his attributes this way. “Chris is old school,” he said. “If the yearbook printed his senior photo in black and white, I would not at all be surprised. He embodies the values of hard work, respect, earnestness, and integrity.”
During the 2013-2014 school year, the Verona Sports Boosters recognizes a different senior athlete at Verona High School every week. The Boosters support male and female athletes in all VHS sports through a variety of fundraisers and recognition events.
Photo copyright Andy Yeates. Used by permission.
