Delcos Track: Haverford’s Olivia Cieslak goes far to help Fords repeat as team champion

UPPER DARBY — The first race Olivia Cieslak won Saturday afternoon was for the longest commute to Upper Darby.

Cieslak spent Friday night in New York, competing on Randalls Island. At New Balance’s Trials of Miles at Icahn Stadium, Cieslak won the girls 800 meters in 2:05.05 over a group of leading runners from across the region.

But instead of calling it a weekend, Cieslak wanted to be at the Delco Championships with her Haverford teammates. Her only event was the last lap of the meet, anchoring a Fords win in the 4 x 400 relay. What she really came for was to share in the quarter-mile victory lap with the trophy for a second straight Delcos title.

It’s the balance that Cieslak, the reigning Daily Times Girls Track and Cross Country Athlete of the Year, is balancing in her junior season.

“It’s definitely important to me, in my junior year, to make sure I get those individual races in,” she said. “But also coming out here for my team. We have such a great group of girls. Being able to do it for each other is really great.”

At Penn Relays, for instance, that meant scratching the Fords’ 4 x 400 relay so Cieslak could take a shot at the girls open mile, in which she finished sixth. Saturday, she made essentially the reverse decision, passing up the chance to defend county titles in the 800 and 1,600.

But Haverford was hardly helpless, in the final race or overall, without her. The Fords still collected 117 points, nearly double the counts from a knot of teams behind them. Episcopal Academy came out ahead of that group with 66 points to Chester’s 63 and 60 for Penncrest.

Cieslak made a difference on the relay, but not all by her lonesome. Riona O’Neill and Alyssa Bloxton had the Fords in second place behind Chester midway through. But the big move was made by freshman Ava Cavanaugh. The runner-up in the 400 blasted to the lead, and she handed off to Cieslak to open up the gap. The Fords came in in 3:55.31, Chester second in 4:00.06.

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Haverford poses with the team trophy for winning the girls team competition at the Delco Championships Saturday at Upper Darby. (Daily Times staff photo)