Baldwin’s boys and girls track teams defeated West Mifflin and Thomas Jefferson at a meet on Monday.

A highlight of the invitational included the boys 4×400 relay, run by senior Gabriel Barakat, sophomore Jack Reichl, and juniors Zach Lieu and McKinley Beech, which earned a close win.

Junior Alexander Castaneda also did well with a dominant win in the two-mile.

For the girls, junior Molly Gorman and freshman Cheyanne Trout finished first and second in both the 3200 and the 1600. The relay team of Gorman, Trout, freshman Alana Ipolito, and freshman Alexa O’Malley won the girls 4×800.

Freshman Laila Hockenberry competed in the 4×800 relay for the first time, and spoke about the challenge of stepping into a new event.

“I had to stand up and run the 4×8 relay, which is something I had never done before and did not know how to run going into the meet,” Hockenberry said. “I think I was really good at staying positive in my head mentally. I also tried to pace myself through my runs.”

Overall, Baldwin could improve on team cohesion in their training.

“In practice, we’re all split up into the events we run, so then on these days we don’t warm up together, but we’re trying to do that,” freshman Sristi Kharel said.

This was Baldwin’s first section meet of the season. There is only one more section meet, which will determine the section champs.

“We knew that it didn’t matter if we PR. We just had to be in order to (try to) win the section and move on to make the playoffs,” Kharel said.

Beyond the wins, team spirit and support stood out.

“From the person in first place to the person in last, everyone stays to cheer everyone on,” Hockenberry said. “It’s why I think track and cross country is one of our best sports. Everyone is competitive but supportive.”

Baldwin’s underclassmen are going to Seneca Valley for their next meet on Thursday, while upperclassmen will compete at an invitational hosted by Butler.