Both boys’ and girls’ track teams finished in second place at SPC on April 28-29. This year is the first time the girls’ team has placed at SPC in four years and the second year in a row the boys’ team has placed in the top two.

The boys’ team finished six points behind champion St. Stephens Episcopal and the girls were ten points behind Hockaday. Coach Richie Mercado had hoped the boys’ team would win defend their title, but a surprising 4×100 finish by St. Stephens made the competition much closer than expected.

“Our program has come a long way from where it was when I was a freshman. Back then, we were ecstatic to get second at SPC, whereas this year we were a little disappointed,” senior Jayan Hanson said. “That just goes to show how much we’ve improved as a program in the past three years.”

Sophomore Genson Hooper-Price broke his own school record by finishing the 100-meter dash in 10.57 seconds, which also tied the SPC championship record. Hooper-Price also placed first in the 400-meter dash (48.12 seconds). He has improved over the season and Mercado is impressed with his ability and room to grow.

“He’s been patient and trusted what we do,” Mercado said. “He had a very good meet, and he’s still got a lot more to go.”

On the girls’ team, senior Peyton Brown won the 800 meter and 1600 meter, while senior Isabelle Paine won the 300-meter hurdles. The team placed second in the 4×400 relay and third in the 4×100 relay. Other key contributors were sophomore Mycah Clay (fifth in the 100 meter) and junior Molly Isaac (fifth in the 800 meter). Senior Katie Hasley won the discus throw.

The girls’ 4×100 relay and 4×800 relay teams both broke school records.

“I was happy for the girls, especially those seniors,” Mercado said. “We had been third place three years in a row, and we finally got a trophy.”

In other results, junior Will Marx placed fourth in the 100 meter, junior Drew Woodfolk placed fourth in the 800 meter and Hanson placed sixth in the 1600 meter. Sophomore Collin Fullen placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, and the boys’ 4×400 team placed first.

Although the Mavericks didn’t get the first place trophy, Hanson said that the meet was still an exciting experience with plenty to cheer about.

“All of our relays performed really well. Our 4×100 broke the school and SPC record, our 4×400 won by five seconds, and our 4×800 outperformed expectations and placed third,” Hanson said. “Relays tend to be the most exciting races, and ours certainly didn’t disappoint.”

Both teams earned trophies for their performances and were able to put themselves in a position to succeed.

“I was most proud of how everyone on the team competed considering we had many people who did more than three events,” Hanson said. “Over a two-day period, that’s really tough, and our athletes dealt with that very well.”