By Sean Martin
A dream season for the Guilderland track and field team came to a dramatic conclusion Saturday at the New Balance Nationals with a national championship in the sprint medley relay at Franklin Field.
Fresh off its first-ever Section II team title in outdoor, the quartet of senior Megan Swan, sophomore Saida Assabahi, junior Kendall Barnhart and freshman Addison Vellekoop set a meet record with a winning time of 3:57.66.
“Being at New Balance Nationals was huge, but we all there thinking we had to run our race, do what we had to do,” Barnhart said. “That was our main thing going into the race and it worked well for us.”
Swan led off the race with a 200 split of just over 25 seconds before handing the baton to Assabahi in third place.
“I’m thankful for my team getting us here, we all worked super hard,” Swan said. “Going into the season, I didn’t think a national title was in our reach, but I guess it was. I thank our coaches for getting us here.”
Assabahi ran 25-seconds flat for her 200-meter leg before handing off to Barnhart.
“As soon as I turned to take the baton from Megan, I knew it was time to go,” Assabahi said.
Barnhart, the Section II champion in the 400 in Group I, kept her team close with her effort in the 400 before handing off to Vellekoop for the 800-meter anchor leg.
“When I saw Saida coming to me in third, I knew I had to keep it or move up,” Barnhart said. “I need to keep pushing and give everything I had. At the end, I almost caught the girl in second and set Addison up for doing what she does.”
Vellekoop’s split of 2:10.30 secured the championship for Guilderland.
“I don’t think anyone could run the race with so much poise as she did,” Swan said. “She is so smart when it comes to 800s.”
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