The Downingtown West Track and Field team wrapped up their first indoor meet in New York at the Ocean Breeze Freedom Games that took place on January 7.

Throughout the meet, West was able to tear up the competition and make new personal records in a lot of their races.

Two star athletes, Carolyn Tarpley (’23) and Kelly Bell (’23), made some big moves at the meet. Tarpley won both of her races and is now a PA No. 1 runner and a U.S. No. 3 runner in the 3000m, with a time of 10:05.20, as well as a PA No. 2 runner for the 1600m, with a time of 5:05.9. Bell was able to place second in the 300m overall and is now a PA No. 2 runner and a U.S. No. 23 runner.

After a long day of running, West was only left with their relay portion of the meet, which included a boys’ 4x200m relay and a girls’ 4x200m relay. The boys’ relay consisted of seniors Kelly Bell, Jack Brunner, Matthew Woodward, and Eddie Moore. The boys were able to finish their race third overall and claim third in the state for the 4×200. After running their relay, Bell said, “I think overall we performed well for our first time in competition. I think we handled the pressure and came ready to run.”

The girls’ relay consisted of Ryleigh Hearn (’23), Lily Henning (’23), Ellen Ramsey (’25), and Molly Weitzmen (’26). Despite adversity, the girls were able to place fourth in their race and claim No. 5 in the state. Hearn said, “The race could have gone better, but for the first race, it went really well. We had to overcome some adversity when having to change the runner of the third leg of the relay the week of the meet.”

Overall, West was able to make some waves at the meet and show what West has to offer.