This year, four remarkable girls from the spring track team made history by breaking the school record for the girls’ 4×400 meter relay, and qualifying for Nationals. Their names are Grace Gilbakian, Jenny Jordan, Lauren Lorefice, and Nora Murphy.

The 4×400 is a relay of four people, where each person runs 400 meters, or one lap around the track. Between each lap the previous runner must pass a baton to the following teammate. Lorefice described the event as “a gift from god” and “a beautiful creation.”

Lorefice has been running on varsity spring track for three years, Gilbakian, three, Murphy, two, and Jordan, one. Lauren is currently a junior, Grace and Nora are sophomores, and Jenny is a freshman. This was their first year running together for the 4×400.

Every runner’s goal is to run the 400m in under 60 seconds, which is extremely difficult. Lorefice is the only member of the four to have achieved this. She explained, “The 400^th meter can sometimes be mistaken as death.” Nora Murphy agreed that the 400m sprint is very excruciating. She said, “The pain of a 400 can be compared to that of child birth.” All Grace had to add was, “Ouch.”

            This year, only six 4×400 teams in Suffolk County qualified for Nationals, including our very own from Westhampton Beach. The girls qualified with a time of 4:03:98. The four were then ranked fifth in the county when they competed at the Section XI Individual Championships State Qualifier on May 30^th. Here, they finished with a time of 4:04:08 in the Preliminaries, and 4:04:57 in the finals. Jenny Jordan said, “Being only a freshman, this has been an amazing experience, and I hope we do even better next season.”

            This year, New Balance Nationals will take place in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although the team will not be attending due to the event’s distance and finals being the next day, it is still an amazing achievement for them to have qualified. Great job girls!