Jun. 18, 2014:  The Bronxville girls' 4x800m relay team turned on the jets on Saturday night, finishing fourth at the New Balance Nationals with an astounding time of 8:58.58, almost twelve seconds faster than its best time this spring. Senior Courtney Campbell, junior Delia Hayes, sophomore Hilary Rizzo, and freshman Kaitlin Ryan earned All-American honors in this final race of the outdoor season.

"When we were on the field after Katie finished, we were so excited we had fourth," said Rizzo. "When we looked at the scoreboard and saw 8:58, we were shocked."

Coach Jim Mitchell, who was celebrating his 70th birthday at Nationals, was thrilled with the team's performance. "What you are always hoping for in a relay is for all four girls to click at the same time, and that is exactly what the girls accomplished on Saturday night. They were in great condition, and their workouts indicated that, but we needed all four to have a great race."

It was better than a great race for all of the Bronxville girls. Campbell, who ran a 2:16.89, got out well in a very crowded field of 16 teams and was able to hand off in about fifth place. Hayes, new to the team this year, handed off in fourth place, breaking her personal record (PR) by three seconds with a 2:16.06. Rizzo, who ran the third leg in 2:13.22, kept the team in fourth by shaving three seconds off her PR. Finally, freshman Ryan had her best race of the year, finishing in 2:12.39 with yet another PR. Ryan had pulled into third place but was out-leaned at the finish by two-hundredths of a second.

"We weren't really expecting to be so fast," said Rizzo. "It was our last year with Courtney, our senior, and we just wanted to have a fun time. All of us had so much adrenaline; we just handed off to each other with so much energy that it carried us through the race."

This was a very competitive race, with four teams breaking the nine-minute mark. These times would have beaten many college teams. The Bronxville girls finish the season as the number-one ranked 4x800m relay team in New York and fifth all-time in Westchester County.

"Congratulations to our four newest All-Americans," commented Coach Mitchell. "A near-perfect race by our four girls and a terrific way to end the season."

And, a terrific way to celebrate a birthday.

Go Broncos.

Pictured here (L to R): Hilary Rizzo, Courtney Campbell, Delia Hayes, and Kaitlin Ryan after finishing fourth at the 2014 New Balance Nationals.

Photo by Beth Campbell