Westfield Track Athletes Capture 11 State Titles At NJ Junior Olympics

WESTFIELD, NJ — Twenty six athletes from the Westfield Area YMCA Flyers Track Club were among 700 athletes that competed at the State Junior Olympics in Jersey City last week.

One Westfield athlete set a meet record, three set club records and eight brought home state championships, according to the YMCA.

In addition, two athletes won state champions in multiple events — Lidia Writing winning in three events and Millen Dhiman winning in two events.

Overall, the YMCA said 18 athletes advanced to the Regional Junior Olympics in Slippery Rock, PA on July 7-10.

The State Champions were as follows:

• Girls 13-14 Division: 4x100m Relay – Sydney Kessler, Lidia Wright, De’Janna Mathis, Grace Gloster. 3000m Race Walk – Diya Jain. 100m Hurdles & 200m Hurdles – Lidia Wright.
• Boys 13-14 Division: 3000m Race Walk – Brian Guterl. Javelin - Alex Kessler
• Boys 11-12 Division: Discus & Javelin (meet record) – Millen Dhiman

Also advancing to the regional championships include flyers: Rachel Biondo, Julia Ronnen, Anna Youssef, Jessica Zhou, Abigail Drennan, Ruth Sharlein, Lucia Junkroft, Reya Yadav, Isabella Pacheco and Pallavi Shah.

The Westfield Area YMCA said the summer season will continue through July, followed by cross country in the fall.

For more information about the team, visit the team’s website at yflyerstrackclub.com or contact Michelle Almeida at (908) 233-2700.