The Chelsea High girls track & field team continues to put forth strong team and individual performances this 2011 season. The Lady Red Devils raised their record to 5-0 with recent wins against Greater Lawrence (130-6), Presentation of Mary Academy (100-36), and Whittier Tech (80-54). “The girls are improving and gaining confidence,” said CHS head coach Kim Huffer. “It’s exciting to watch many of the girls continue to achieve personal bests in their events.”
Huffer has been receiving strong performances from many of her Lady Devils. On average 25 girls have been contributing to the point totals in the recent victories. During last week’s meet against Greater Lawrence, Chelsea swept every event with the exceptions of the long jump and the 200 mete dash. In that meet, Shuly Sejour was a double winner (high jump and 100 hurdles), while also finishing second in the 200 meter dash and long jump to record 16 points on the CHS side of the scoresheet. Thien-Ly Che finished first in the triple jump and took home two third place finishes in both the 100 and 400 hurdles events.
Mursal Hassan finished first in the 400 hurdles and was a member of the winning 4×400 relay team. Stephanie Moni won the 100 meter sprint and anchored the winning 4×100 relay quartet. Tatyana Almeida finished first in the 400 meter dash and gained a second place finish in the 400 hurdles. Wendy Chung was a double winner, finishing first in the 200 and being a member of the 4×100 relay. Wendy also finished second in the high jump.
On Tuesday, the team hosted a tri-meet with PMA and Whittier. Chelsea beat both schools and turned in a number of strong performances, specifically in the two mile and 400 meter races, as the Lady Red Devils swept the top three places in both of those events. Suzanne Mikalixen led the field in the two mile with Arandeni Ramos and Vanessa Mercado finishing right after Suzanne (who also took a third in the mile run) to complete the sweep.
Quinnee Valenzona led the field in the 400 dash and also finished first place in the 100 hurdles. Loren Ramos and Jennifer Medrano finished second and third respectively in the 400. Other notable Chelsea performances of the day included:
400 hurdles: 1. Mursal Hassan (78.36), 3. Tatyana Almeida; 100 hurdles: 1. Quinnee Valenzona (19.16), 2. Shuly Sejour; 100 dash: 2. Stephanie Moni, 3. Zuleima Castillo; mile: 3. Anelsa Beqo; 800: 2. Belinda Beqo; 200: 1. Wendy Chung (28.76), 2. Shuly Sejour;
4 x 400 relay: Chelsea (4.55) Almeida, A. Beqo, Ramos, Hassan; discus: 1. Rebecca Torrento (72’); javelin: 3. Cristal Rodriguez; long jump: 1. Stephanie Moni (14’4); triple jump: 3. Jennifer Medrano; and high jump: 1. Chung (4’4);
The Lady Red Devils will be looking to carry their momentum into their next meet this Thursday (today) against Mystic Valley. “Mystic Valley is a strong, up-and-coming team in our conference,” said Huffer. “They have always had a strong distance program and this season that is coupled with strong performers in many other events. They will be a tough challenge for our team.”