On May 28th and 29th, McLean’s spring track and field team took on the regional tournament. After a great showing at districts with numerous athletes qualifying for regionals and two relay teams qualifying for the state tournament, the team was set to travel to South Lakes with hopes of replicating their previous success.
“It’s really cool to compete at regionals because it’s kind of the next step for a runner,” junior Kathryn Thomas said. “Running in districts is what qualifies you for varsity, so regionals is really the best time to prove yourself.”
On the first day, McLean had 13 runners compete in five different events. Junior Stephen Shields highlighted the boys, finishing sixth in the 110 meter hurdle finals and Senior Mikhael Cristo-Ezewoko placed seventh in the long jump finals.
For the girls, sophomore Jaidyn Budday placed fifth in the 2 mile finals, with teammates junior Dani Diaz, junior Catherine Thomas and sophomore Ella Wright placing seventh, 11th and 12th. The highlight of the first day, however, was the girls 4×800 meter relay team. After qualifying for states in the district tournament, the team of sophomore Addison Budday, Thomas and seniors Calypso Rolly and Caitlin Farley won their finals relay, solidifying their spot at the top of the region and favorites to win the state.
“For my [4×800] relay it felt really amazing to win the region,” Thomas said. “The team is going to be split up next year because we had some seniors so to win our last dance was really special.”
On the second day, junior Malcolm Andrews and Cristo-Ezewoko placed fifth and ninth in the 200 meter finals. Senior Colin Park placed tenth in the one mile finals and Shields placed fourth in the 300 meter hurdle competition. The boys 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams both placed seventh in their respective finals and Cristo-Ezewoko placed fifth in the triple jump. In the boys discus finals, sophomore Daniel Pashai placed 12th.
On the girls side, Rolly and Addison got sixth and 14th in the 800 meter. Jaidyn placed 11th in the 1 mile race and sophomore Sophie Knudson placed eighth in the pole vault finals.
“The thing we credit the most is the time we put in leading up to the competitions,” Shields said. “We really focus on making sure all of the runners are well rested and trusting in the work that has led us to this moment.”
The state competition will be held in Virginia Beach on June 6th and 7th, where the Highlanders will be sending a year-high 17 runners. With aspirations to bring school records and state titles to the rafters of McLean, the runners will be preparing all week for the big competition.
“Similarly to regionals, we will be focusing on rest and making sure our bodies are feeling in their best shape,” Shields said. “We’ll do a couple of practices to help get our best times out of the runners, but we all are just really excited to compete.”
