FORCE FACTOR: Members of the Wilberforce School girls’ track 4×400-meter relay are all smiles after they placed first at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public B Group Championships in late May. The win by the relay helped Wilberforce place third in the team standings at the meet. Pictured, from left, are Adeline Edwards, Stella Blanchard, Gwen Mersereau, and Laura Sallade. (Photo provided by Lois Szeliga)
By Bill Alden
Although the Wilberforce School track team brought only five girls to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public B Group Championships in late May, that quintet made a big impact.
The hardy squad of Stella Blanchard, Laura Sallade, Adeline Edwards, Gwen Mersereau, and Emily Prothero ended up placing third in the team standings, scoring 58 points to trail only champion Villa Walsh (120) and runner-up St. Benedict’s (62).
Wilberforce head coach Lois Szeliga was thrilled with how her athletes competed.
“Each girl contributed all that they could,” said Szeliga. “I just think it is very inspirational to see that these girls are giving it their all. We can do great things with a small amount of girls. They were very proud.”
Sophomore Blanchard had a great meet, taking first in the 400 meters, second in the 200, third in the 800 and helping the Wolverines win the 4×400 relay.
Last spring, Szeliga and co-head coach Kristen Yonkman discovered that Blanchard had a hidden talent for sprinting.
“Last year, we entered one race which was a sprint night at West Windsor,” said Szeliga. “She ran the 200 and was really fast. That was big surprise so I was wait a minute, this girl has some speed. This year we made sure she ran those 200s and 400s. She also ran the 1,600 and ran the 800 because I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of athlete she was. She has a tremendous range.”
Szeliga displayed tremendous competitiveness at the Non-Public meet.
“Her dad was a Meet of Champion winner in cross country so she has that championship blood in her veins,” said Szeliga. “She was very aggressive. She was definitely gunning to win the 400 and won by quite a bit. With the 200, she edged out Govanna Burress (of DePaul Catholic) very closely to get second.”
Junior standout Sallade displayed her championship mindset, taking second in both the 800 and 1,600.
“Even though she has been such a star, this year was just another level for her,” said Szeliga of Sallade, who clocked a 2:15.24 time in the 800 and came in at 5:04.78 in the 1,600. “She just lowered her time in the 1,600 so now she is really close to that 5-minute time. She keeps getting stronger. She does a lot of work outside of track to increase her strength. She is just such a strong athlete. Her 800 time was the fastest time in Mercer County of the season.”
Sallade faced a tough competitor in each of her races as she was edged by Villa Walsh star and Columbia University commit Maggie Boler in both.
“Her races were really thrilling, she went for it in both races; we have great competition with Villa Walsh in our Non-Public meet, they have phenomenal runners,” said Szeliga. “Laura really gave it her all. Laura knew that Maggie was going to be tough. She ended up getting two PRs and a school record in the 1,600.”
One of the team’s two seniors, Adeline Edwards, gave her all as well, finishing fifth in both the 800 and 1,600.
“Last year she missed spring track so this was her first spring season since her sophomore year,” said Szeliga, whose other senior, Gwen Mersereau, took fourth in the 400 while junior Emily Prothero took eighth in the 1,600 “She is going to be running for Emory next year. She had a very strong cross country season but I know she was really pleased at how track season came along. She is totally back and fast.”
The Wolverines produced a strong performance in the 4×400 relay as they cruised to first, posting a winning time of 4:08.93, nearly 10 seconds better than runner-up Eastern Christian.
“Of course they all love the relay, those four girls gave all they have,” said Szeliga. “It went from Gwen to Adeline to Laura to Stella.”
As for the Wilberforce boys, Szeliga loved what senior Philip Schidlovsky gave the team in the Non-Public meet as he took fifth in the 400 and helped the 4×400 relay place fifth along with John David, Micah Brox, and Camilo Cobena.
“Philip is my captain — I was really happy for him that he ran a season’s best in the 200 (24.18 in finishing 12th),” said Szeliga. “He ran his PR in the 400 (52.23), so that was a great way to go out. He anchored our 4×4 relay which also scored.”
Competing in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions to end its state competition, the Wilberforce girls produced some great efforts. The 4×400 relay clocked a time of 4:03.45 in taking 23rd while Blanchard placed 23rd in the 200 in 26.46 and 15th in the 400 in 57.76 and Sallade finished 22nd in the 800 in 2:18.50.
“The girls 4×4 set their season best by five seconds,” said Szeliga, whose 4×800 relay of Sallade, Mersereau, Blanchard, and Prothero took 44th in 9:41.80 in the Unseeded Final at the New Balance Nationals last Friday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. “Stella got two school records from the MOC. She broke her record in the 200 and 400. Laura got 2:18 in the 800. It is such good competition and they performed really well.”
In reflecting on her team’s gritty performance at the state meets, Szeliga credited her two seniors, Mersereau and Edwards, with setting the tone.
“Gwen and Adeline were just a huge part of building our track program, they leave a legacy that is very special,” said Szeliga. “We won all of our state championships with those girls, they have been part of all of it. Gwen is so competitive and Adeline is so feisty.”