By Alicia York //  Photo by John Nepolitan

New York, March 14 – The distance program from La Salle Academy, Rhode Island made a statement this afternoon at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory when both the girls and boys finished first in the 4xmile relay. The girls set the stage for success when their quartet of Karina Tavares, Audrey O’Neill, Sheridan Wilbur and Eliza Rego came together to handily get the W in a time of 20:26.13. Although the girls have raced together in the Distance Medley Relay before, this was the first time they have teamed up to compete against the nations best in the 4xmile. With there eyes on last year’s winners, Blacksburg, the girls were motivated to come out and run fast. The only real question was just how fast. 

Junior Audrey O’Neill was all smiles post-race; “I think it feels kinda surreal right now. We weren’t really sure what distance event we were going to do and knew that the 4xmile would be the hardest battle with Blacksburg being the reigning champions, we are just really proud of ourselves that we were finally able to do it and execute our race plan.”  

When asked if there was a “healthy” competition between the boys and the girls distance programs at La Salle, the girls laughed in unison. The boys have been quite dominant in the relays and distance events, so the ladies were gunning to make their own mark on the day and wished well on the boys team, who were just moments away from competing. The boys team of Daniel Paiva, Matthew Bouthlilette, David Principle and Jack Salisbury fared equally as dominant and successful, with Salisubry anchoring their team to a speedy 17:11.07.