Cali Terranova
Sport: Indoor track and field
School: Elmwood Park
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Terranova won the 55-meter hurdles at the NJIC Championships and placed second in the long jump, setting two personal bests in the process.
The entire Elmwood Park winter track team fits inside the passenger seat of a car.
Cali Terranova doesn’t mind. It’s not about where you start, it’s where you finish.
“It’s definitely cool to be the only one,” Terranova said with a laugh.
Terranova, a senior, set two personal bests at the NJIC track championships last week at The Armory, winning the 55-meter hurdles in 8.76 and placing second in the long jump. It may be the only time an entire team has won the award.
“I was very excited,” Terranova said. “At The Armory, they have that scoreboard and it shows what you ran, and in the 55, I just turned and looked and it was my name and another girl who ran the exact same time, but my time was like 0.003 seconds faster. I had no idea who won, and it was so exciting.”
So how did Terranova become a one-woman track team? It’s a good story.
Terranova played a lot of soccer growing up and was a star on the pitch for the Crusaders, but then she discovered hurdling.
Even though she has a big bruise on her leg that won’t heal (from repeatedly hitting the hurdle), she loves the feeling of soaring and running. Last spring, Terranova won the 400-meter hurdles and was second in the 100 hurdles at the North 1, Group 2 meet, and finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in Group 2.
When Terranova tore her meniscus last fall playing soccer, she began to think maybe her future was clearing hurdles rather than clearing soccer balls out of the defensive end.
“I originally thought I would be playing soccer in college, and then the hurdles came along, and after weighing my options, I realized that would be the chance path for me to reach my maximum potential,” Terranova said.
But she knew she needed to train more.
The problem was Elmwood Park didn’t have a winter track program. So her family advocated for the school to start one. Right now, Terranova is the only member.
When the weather is nice, she works outside on the track, but when it’s cold, coach Bryan Press tapes a wall in the hallway, marking the height of a hurdle so she can simulate the event. No one wants to fall clearing a hurdle in a school hallway.
Terranova said the extra work has helped and her success at the NJIC Championships proved it. She still has the state meets to go, and is primed for a good outdoor season.
“My goal is to get faster,” Terranova said.
Her other dream about getting a shot to run in college has also come true. She accepted an offer to run at Sacred Heart in the fall. She wants to study physical therapy because after her injury, she found it fulfilling to see people help athletes heal and continue their careers.
Somehow, Terranova balances being a one-woman team with schoolwork, a part-time job and club soccer obligations.
“Sometimes it can be a lot,” Terranova said. “But these are definitely the reasons that I got to where I am.”
