School records usually fall at big meets, but on Tuesday, April 9 at Bald Eagle, an ordinary meet turned extraordinary when the Lady Eagles’ 4×100 relay team set a new school record.
Seniors Becca Lewis and Bree Paul, sophomore Nicole Ramsey, and freshman Sarah Chichester ran the 4×100 in 50.60 seconds, which converted to a 50.84 FAT time, beating the old record by .41 of a second.
The previous record was set by Mackenzie Latchford, Natalie Saltsgiver, Bri Foy, and Elise Gailey in 2019.
Breaking a school record at an away meet in the early stages of the season was a surprise, but having the first nice weather of an otherwise rainy and cold track season probably helped.
The weather was partly sunny and in the 60s for the meet.
“Coach Kanuch told us from the first week of practice that we could beat the record, and I knew we could,” Lewis said, “ I recall just telling Nicole [Ramsey] a couple of days ago that we’d probably beat it at one of the last invites. We didn’t expect it this soon and it was awesome. I know that we haven’t even scratched the surface of our potential and I’m excited to see our time drop the rest of the season.”
While Lewis is excited about beating the record, she is already looking to the future.
“Being able to beat the record has been a goal of mine, and I’m so happy we were able to achieve that but I’m excited to see how much better our times can get throughout the season, and I really hope to go and place at states,” Lewis said.
Three of the four members of the record-breaking team also ran the event last year: Lewis, Ramsey, and Paul, but Paul’s track season came to an early end last year due to an injury.
“I am so happy and excited that we broke the record. I can’t even process how good of times we are running right now and I can’t wait to see how we do in the future,” Ramsey said.
One key to taking the relay to the next level has been the addition of freshman Sarah Chichester, who has been running the anchor leg of the relay.
“I love the 4×100 because it’s a really fast race and the team aspect of it is amazing,” Chichester said, “There can be a lot of pressure to not let down your teammates by running a bad race or losing a lead.”
Head Coach Brad Kanuch said it was exciting to see the five-year-old record fall, especially at this early point in the season.
“I am extremely proud that this group of girls was able to break the school record. They have been working very hard and it’s only April. This time will only get better as the year progresses,” Kanuch said.
