Gwen Neale is the Group 1 champion in the 800m, turning in a time of 2:15.26 at the state meet, which was held on Friday and Saturday at Franklin High School in Somerset. Her time beat her personal record time of 2:15.6, set at the indoor Meet of Champions over the winter. Neale now moves on to the outdoor Meet of Champions, which will be held on Wednesday, June 12 in Pennsauken.
Ian Zalewski is also headed to the Meet of Champions. He finished second in the Group 1 800m and second in the 1600m as well. He will be focusing on the 1600m in the statewide championship.
Verona High School had sent 17 female athletes to the Group 1 championship: Eleanor Battersby, Vivienne Butler, Leah Byrnes, Lauren Czupak, Cara Ann DeMars, Lucia Grant, Sienna Griffin, Shaina Kogan, Marley Kramer, Isabella Lambert, Juliana Maglifiore, Morgan Rossi, Katelyn Scelfo, Jessica Theobald, Megan Wynne, Marguerite Valera, and Neale.
Fifteen members of the VHS boys team went to Groups: Evan Carlson, Michael Castner, Luca DeFabrizio, Jack DeMars, Logan Horton, Aidan Ippolito, Logan Knoetig, Jayden Nigro, Jackson Pope, Joshua Sahadow, Chris Sluck, Evan Tsang, Madan Williams, Victor Yu and Zalewski.
O’Neill came in fifth in the 100m dash while Czupak finished sixth in the 3200m. But unlike Sectionals, which sent the top six finishers to Groups, only the top two finishers in each Groups event advance to the Meet of Champions.
