From April 25-27, McLean track relay teams visited the University of Pennsylvania to participate in the Penn Relays Carnival. This event features schools from all over the country, and runners from other countries as well.

“Penn Relays is one of the largest relay events on the east coast,” sophomore relay runner Kathryn Thomas said. “I had an amazing time running in the 4×100 and 4×400 races.”

The team sent five relay teams, the girls and boys 4×100 meter, the girls and boys 4×400 meter, and the boys 4×800 meter. Overall, the team performed very well, and placed in the top half of almost every event. The girls 4×100 meter placed 351st out of 595 teams, and the boys 4×100 meter placed 183rd out of 592 teams. The girls 4×400 meter placed 149th out of 561 teams, the boys 4×400 meter placed 190th out of 526 teams, and the boys 4×800 meter placed 54th out of 69 competing teams.

“Overall the team did really well with a few big [personal records] helping set us up for a good post season,” senior relay runner Jackson Coombes said. “This was the biggest meet I have ever been to so I was nervous to step up to the line but I had a really great time and made a lot of great memories from it.”

Looking ahead, the team only has a few more meets until the district championships on May 9. Before district championships, they compete in the Liberty District Spring Jamboree at Marshall High School on May 1 and the Dogwood Track Classic at the University of Virginia on May 3.

“We have a couple more meets and we hope to just qualify as many people as we can for the postseason as we can,” Thomas said.