To break a high school track record is to do what no one at a school has ever done before. It’s to run faster than anyone that has ever competed at that school. Juniors Sarah Spall, Kristen Edwards, Elise McGinnis, and Jamila Brown are some of the few athletes who know what this feels like. In a sport geared toward the individual, this group of girls managed to work together as a team to win.

The team won third place for the DMR at the Gator Invitational held at Reservoir. DMR stands for Distance Medley Relay, and is a more unconventional track event. Each relay team has four members, and each individual athlete runs a different distance. The first runs 1200 meters, the second 400 meters, the third 800 meters, and the fourth 1600 meters. “Its the only relay where you’re running your own race, but as a team. Its a cool mix of your own times and your teammates’ times,” said Kristen Edwards, a junior and first-time track runner.

In addition to winning third place at Reservoir, the team also won at home. The girls were informed that they had shattered the school DMR record, set in 2011 at 17:24.89, by almost four whopping minutes. Their time, 13:56.53, was something to be proud of. “It felt pretty fantastic. It was kind of a surreal feeling,” said Edwards.

Edwards and McGinnis agreed that every runner in the relay tremendously contributed to the team’s success. They had only good things to say about their teammates.

“[Sarah Spall] is a great runner and she came onto the team in really good shape. She’s a team player,” said McGinnis. “She was the first runner in the relay, so she started us out really strong.”

“Running with Jamila was fantastic, and talking with her about our times is so weird because her times are amazing,” said Edwards, “to be chosen to run with some of the fastest girls on track was an honor.”

According to McGinnis, it was the support from her other teammates that helped to push the track team to victory. “The relay was so exciting, the whole team came together to show its support,” she said, “It really brought our team together. It brought together the distance runners and the sprinters. It made us a family.”

Track season has since come to a close, but the record has remained. The girls love having their names in the record books, and look forward to next season when they can once again work together to challenge their past times.