After a season marked by the hard work and determination of its athletes, the Pelham girls track team won the Section One League Championship for the first time in 22 years. This historic event took place on January 14 at the Armory in New York City.

Junior Claudia Dodge ran the 600 meter at the championship meet placing first with a time of 1:40:00. Dodge has had a solid season, taking part in this event during each meet and consistently defeating strong competitors in the league.

Dodge said, “It was a great accomplishment especially since it was our goal from day one to win leagues, and it’s even better that we were the first Pelham team in 22 years to win.”

Sophomore Charlotte Howard helped the team race to victory with a second place finish in the triple jump, with a personal best of 34.75.

“I think our team has made extreme progress from the beginning of the season until now. We all worked very hard, especially for leagues, because even though we were not ranked highly we knew we still had a chance [at winning]. I think everyone put a lot of hard work and dedication in for themselves and for the team,” Howard said.

Coach Leighton, echoing her sentiments, said, “Winning our league was a goal that we had set early in the season and it was great to see how the girls on the team worked together and pushed each other to accomplish this goal.”