New Relay Race Record

Nutley High School's very own Cynthia DePersio was one of three other girls to break the NHS four-person relay record. Sophomore Cynthia, Junior Marcella Blancato, Senior Alexandra Twomey and Freshmen Kaitlyn Gibney not only broke the school's previous record from 1996, but then went on to beat their own record again the same season.“I knew they were capable of breaking it and had all the faith in them. They just had to believe in themselves and not lose it in their head before the race even started,” said coach Kara McNish. The bar was definitely set high for the next track and field stars to enter Nutley High School. 

Leading up to the race, the girls were coached by head coach Gerald Ryan and sprinter coach Kara McNish. Prior to the race, the only preparation was them showing up to practice. They came in and did what they knew how to do best - run. “We went to practice and worked harder than ever, '' said Cynthia DePersio. At the East Coast Essex county at Randolph High School the girls ran the four person relay in 4:24 41 milliseconds on May 24. The alone broke the record by about 2 seconds and was enough to put their names in NHS history. 

They anticipated they could have beat the record because they have had that type of race before and were extremely close to beating it the last time. ”Excited and proud of them. There's no better feeling as a coach than seeing your athletes succeed and being proud of themselves,” said coach McNish.

But one time wasn't enough three days later on May 27 the girls broke the record again and ran it at 4:21 61 milliseconds  breaking their previous record and placing the standards even higher. “Next year I'm hoping to break my personal record and work even harder,” said DePersio.

Breaking records is not by luck, it's all skill and hard work. Each girl had their own assignment Cynthia ran the 400m, Kaitlyn 200m, Alex 200m, Marcella 800m. Each girl prepared hard and diligently and all of them are returning besides Alex for the season next spring and ready to one up themselves again.