Staten Island- The North Penn Girls track team traveled to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Sunday to compete at the Ocean Breeze Invitational. Not knowing where they were ranked going into the meet, the 4×800 meter relay team came out on top running their best time, 9:15.92, which ranks them number one in Pennsylvania and in the country.

“We were really happy after winning and breaking the record. We weren’t really sure what the competition would be like going into it, so it felt really good to beat our time from last year,” said junior Ariana Gardizy.

This was the first time this season North Penn had its strongest 800 runners on the 4×800 team. After winning the 4×800 at the Outdoor State Championships, the relay lost a valuable leg, Phoebe Clowser. Gardizy, sophomore Jenna Webb, senior Mikaela Vlasic, and the addition of well-known sophomore sprinter Natalie Kwortnik, the new leg to the relay and a previous leg at last year’s 4×800 Indoor State Championships relay, managed to bring home hardware.

“I’m not sure why they decided to put me in this race. I’ve been running distance at practice for a few weeks now, so I guess that was preparing me for this race and possibly states,” said Kwortnik.

Gardizy started off the relay strong but feels she could have had a faster start. With hip number four, Gardizy started the race slightly boxed in with competitors on both sides of her, so she feels the first lap was hard to settle into. Second leg Webb stayed with the front pack, and third leg Kwortnik brought the team from second to first battling New York’s Corning and Eastport-South Manor, and at the final exchange Vlasic brought it home. All four of them agree that everyone played a part in this relay.

“The only plan was to run fast, we didn’t know what to expect, but we were all very excited. I think I did my part and ran the best I could, but as a whole I think we all worked together as a team to get this win,” said Webb.

A common fear for runners is to be running without any competition to push you, but only Vlasic had to do that in this race. Gardizy was unsure of the competition being lead off, but they were a lot better than she expected, which kept her on her toes.

“I think overall we did really well because there wasn’t just one person that did really well and the rest just did okay. Everybody put up their best time, so it was as good as it’s gonna get, and we still have a lot of time to get better before States. The next goal for us is to win at States,” said Vlasic.