Westminster Dominates Track At Tune Up Meet
On Tuesday, the weather turned out to be just perfect for an afternoon on the track as the Pace Academy Knights track and field team hosted a region “tune up” meet featuring several teams from around the Atlanta metro area including Westminster, Holy Innocents, The Galloway School, Paideia, Greater Atlanta Christian and Wesleyan.
Although the meet was not a scoring event, there were still several runners that set new personal records as well as multiple to times in the state and in the country. It was also a day in which Westminster had a dominating performance on the track, with 15 first place finishes in girls events and 12 in boys events.
One of Westminster’s top performers of the day was junior, Palmer Walsted, who wrapped up the 2021-2022 cross country season with the girls Georgia High School Association 3A state title, as she set a new state time in the girls 1600M run finishing in 4:57.65. Palmer would also notch a Top 25 national time in the girls 3200M run taking first in 11:14.20
In one of the events that the Westminster boys did not claim first, Holy Innocents’ Joe Sapone, who won the GHSA 3A boys 3200M state championship in 2021, would take the top spot in the 1600M run in a time of 4:12.96, a Top 10 Georgia time and Top 50 nationally, and following the race Sapone said it was a “great” feeling setting his new PR in the event.
“It’s always good when you get to come out and PR,” Sapone said of his new time, which is about two seconds lower than his previous PR. Sapone also spoke on whether or not he would defend his 3200 championship, an event he has not run this season. “I’m definitely excited to get back out there in races that really count and I haven’t run a 3200 all year,” Sapone said, adding that he’ll have a clearer thought on the decision once he gets through the regional and sectional meets.
