McLean indoor track is having a very successful season this year, with many runners qualifying for districts, regionals and even nationals.

“The season has been going very well,” distance coach Matt Christianson said. “We have been doing a lot of very hard training for the past month.”

The indoor track team took a visit to Virginia Beach for the annual VA Showcase on Jan. 12, and raced all weekend. The showcase was one of the biggest of the season, with many racers qualifying for states and setting new records left and right.

“Many kids ran well across the board and some even qualified for states and nationals,” sophomore Carter Lineweaver said. “Overall, it was a great showing for McLean.”

One of those qualifiers in particular was Lineweaver, who clocked personal bests in both the 3200 meter and the 6400 meter races and broke the school record for the 6400 meter race.

“It felt amazing,” Lineweaver said. “I had the record in the back of my head all throughout the race but was more focused on just running. Afterwards, I could not stop smiling.”

Another outstanding performance at the VA Showcase came from senior Liam Riley, who qualified for a national meet at the Nike Indoor Nationals from March 8-10.

“It felt great to qualify and take some of that pressure off,” Riley said. “but I know I got more in me before that race.”

With their persistent success in their past meets, they hope to continue running at the highest level, and help the runners around them succeed alongside them. On Jan. 19, the team is sending their formerly injured players to Richmond for the St. Christopher’s Invitational to allow them to record any race times they can.

“Our number one goal every season is to get as many people as we can to the state competition,” Christianson said. “We like to push each other to try to reach our best every season and have as many people succeed at the highest level.”