Mercy Wins First Indoor Track & Field State Championship!
At the Class M State Championship on Friday, Feb. 13, Mercy Track and Field scored 66 points to win the first indoor track and field state championship in school history.
Led by the duo of Sarah Roberts ’26 and Cora Wasiolek ’28, who each won individual state titles in the 1000 meters and 1600 meters, Mercy defeated Woodstock Academy by 24 points for the historic championship last Friday night in New Haven at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Along with Roberts and Wasiolek, who also medaled in the 3200 meters, taking second and third, Mercy picked up event victories in the 4x800-meter relay and the 1600-meter sprint medley relay, and scored more points in the high jump, 3200 meters, and the 4x200-meter relay.
Roberts won the 1000 state title in a time of 2:59.98 and Wasiolek took the 1600 gold by four seconds, running 5:10.05.
In the 4x800-meter relay, the team of Beatrice Perrault ’26, Lilliana Tycz ’26, Heather Meisinger ’26 and Allie Pelletier ’27 picked up the first win of the day, and definitely the most dramatic. After going back-and-forth with Weston throughout the race, Pelletier dove across the line for the gold medal. Weston’s time? 10:00.99. And Mercy’s? 10:00.86. The crazy finish gave Mercy its second straight title in the event and was part of a strong start to the championship.
About 20 minutes before Pelletier’s dramatic finishing kick, the 4x200-meter team of Molly Mones ’28, Veronika Meriano ’26, Macy Gerry ’27 and Ella Barone '26 scored the first points of the championship taking fifth.
Later in the meet, another Mercy relay set a school record and nearly a meet record in the sprint medley relay. Looking to solidify the championship victory at the time, the team of Mones, Madelyn Scarfo ’27, Cailan Hall ’28 and Roberts, ran 4:16.46 in the event to beat the school record by eight seconds and miss the meet record by .24 seconds.
Scarfo and Ruby Kuselias ’28 were the other individual point scorers for Mercy on the day. Coming off an SCC title the week before and the second-best jump in school history, Scarfo jumped five feet to take bronze in the high jump, and Kuselias delivered her best track performance in the 3200 meters, running a personal best of 11:25.28 for fourth place.
For Mercy, the win gives the school its 16th athletics state championship, and its second state title this school year after cross country’s state champpionship in the fall. However, maybe the most impressive Mercy statistic from the championship centers around the Class of 2026 and six members of this year’s team.
With this championship victory, Roberts, Perrault, Meriano, Meisinger, Calista Nephew, and Gianna Salafia are now the most decorated championship athletes in Mercy history. Along with three state championships in cross country, the six are part of four state championship victories. No other Mercy student had been part of more titles.
Congratulations to all these team members and the entire team on a historic title!
The team will now compete on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the State Open Championship, where they are set to compete for event wins, and New England championship berths!