After experiencing a season to cherish in 2025, the Greenwich High School varsity girls outdoor track and field team is primed to produce another spring season storybook season to remember.

One season ago, the Cardinals captured the team title at the CIAC Class LL Track and Field Championships for the first time in program history and captured their first FCIAC championship since the 1984 season. The Cardinals opened their 2026 campaign on April 14th with a home meet against FCIAC foe Stamford High School and picked up right where they left off last season, excelling in each event.

Winning all but two events, Greenwich began its track and field season with a highly impressive 117-27 win over Stamford in summerlike weather conditions at Cardinal Stadium. Seniors Juliette Pelham and Theresa Knuth won three individual events and sophomore Riley Barber had two first-place finishes for Greenwich, which has plenty of talent and depth in each event once again this spring.

“I’m very happy with how things have been going, practices have been great,” said Greenwich senior captain Nina Silver, one of the Cardinals’ top runners. “This first meet is an opportunity to show all the hard work that we’ve been doing since December, throughout indoor.”

Silver was a member of the Cardinals indoor track and field team that won the CIAC Class LL team state championship and the FCIAC team title a couple of months ago during the winter season.

“I think the girls have been performing really well,” Silver said. “It seems like we’re doing really well and it’s great to see as a captain, people stepping up.”

Riley Barber, a sophomore, won the 100-meter run for Greenwich, posting a time of 12.76 seconds. Silver placed second, crossing the finish line in 12.82. Freshman Diyanara Correa took third for the Cardinals with a time of 13.51.

In the 200-meter race, Riley Barber was also the winner. Barber registered a winning time of 26.26 seconds. Greenwich junior Alejandra Martinez was the runner-up in the 200-meter race (27.96), while Correa placed third (28.39) and teammate Victoria Cordero, a freshman, placed third (28.46).

Cordero earned a second-place finish in the 400 meter race for GHS, which is coached by Peter Watson. Cordero ran the race in 1:04.61. Sophia Grymalyuk of Stamford was the 400 winner, clocking in at 1:04.27. Sophie Passalacqua (1:04.79), Rio Sato (1:04.94) and Elizabeth Brezany (1:09.32) were third to fifth, respectively for GHS in the 400 meter event.

The 800-meter race saw Greenwich senior Orla Muir produce a winning effort, registering a time of 2:29.28. Stamford’s N’dea Dalmiste took second (2:31.69) and Cardinals sophomore Zahra Dada was third in 2:36.64. Katharine Storm (2:38.07) and Margaret McCooe (2:39.91) were fourth and fifth, respectively in the 800 for the Cards. Muir reflected on her Cardinals track career.

“It’s been amazing, I’ve been here all three seasons, from my freshman year and we’ve got great coaches and it’s a great program,” Muir said following the Cards’ season opener. “We’re all so close with each other and it makes it a lot more fun. We have so many athletes that are doing so well.”

As for Greenwich’s season-opening meet versus Stamford?

“This is an opportunity to get used to the season, so we have a lot more progress to make and a lot more work,” Muir noted.

Passalacqua, a sophomore, gave GHS a win in the 3200-meter race, running a time of 11:53.23. Teammate Devin Beiley, a junior, was the runner-up in 12:18.25. Alejandra Martinez, a junior, was the meet’s 300 hurdles winner for the Cardinals, clocking in at 50.95 seconds. Correa (58.43) finished second, followed by teammate Fiona Davis (1:01.59). Isabella Taffur (1:01.60) and Iris Blomgren, both freshman, finished fourth and fifth for the Cards in the 300 hurdles.

Samaya Dawkins, a Greenwich sophomore, had a winning performance in the 100-meter hurdles. Dawkins showed her speed, winning the race in 17.39 seconds. Martinez was the runner-up, followed by Correa (20.47), Taffur (20.73) and Davis (21.38).

Greenwich has a longstanding tradition of possessing standout relay teams. The Cardinals hope to continue such a tradition this spring. Silver, Sato, Riley Barber and twin sister Ella Barber combined for a first-place finish in the 4×100 relay, clocking in at 49.85 seconds.

In the 4×400 relay, senior Eliana Daplyn, Muir, McCooe and Gemma Hardwick took first for GHS in 4:28.18. The 4×800 relay race saw Olivia Klingbeil, Katherine Rovello, Siena Zawrothy and Rebecca Lehman combine for a winning finish of 14:09.69.

“We are doing really well right now, everybody is doing so well at practice,” Muir noted. “We have so many athletes that can be on our relays. Almost all our distance runners can be on the 4 x 8, so, hopefully, we can win and set some school records in those relays in the postseason.”

Senior Theresa Knuth was the discus winner for Greenwich with a throw of 109’5. Pelham placed third in the discus (82’2). Knuth also won the shot put (37’6) and the javelin (88’8) events for GHS against Stamford.

Pelham took first in the high jump (4’8), while teammate Emma Heavey was second (4’0). Pelham was also the long jump (16’1.5) and triple jump (35’8.75) winner.

“Everyone is doing really good, it’s a really strong start,” Pelham said. “Stamford is a good team, they put up their numbers, but I think it’s about looking on the inside and seeing what we can do to improve on our scores from last season.”

“The long jump, there was a lot of competition there, very good numbers,” said Pelham, who was a member of Greenwich’s varsity girls basketball team, which captured the CIAC Class LL and FCIAC championships this past winter. “The high jump, we came out with the top two and it was again, very competitive. The discus, they’ve got some great throwers, so it was good competition.”

Freshman Orly Christie of Greenwich won the pole vault (5’0) and was the runner-up in the long jump (14’6.75) for the Cardinals (1-0).

Greenwich hosts Westhill on Tuesday (April 21st) at 4 p.m.

“The FCIAC, state championship, we won them before and we want to come back and win them again but also do better than we have,” Muir noted.

“I always say take it all the way go as far as we can and work as a team to improve,” Pelham said.