Record Breakers Head to States

The 4×1 Team Breaks School Record and Goes to States

After a successful conference competition, the 4×100 (4×1) Track Team, consisting of freshman Erika Hurrell, junior Alyssa Wooten, senior Pamela Cortez, and Heather Pride, went on to compete at the Track and Field regional competition at UVA on May 25, where they broke a school record, in addition to qualifying for states.

 “Breaking the record made us all so excited because we’ve been working really hard to make it to states but when we found out that we also broke the record, we were all really happy,” said Hurrell, who plans on running the 4×1 in the future. Pride was also excited about breaking the record, which occurred on her birthday.

 “[Breaking the record feels] amazing. It was on my birthday and it was the best birthday gift ever,” said Pride. Pride recently committed to the track and field program at Radford University, where she’ll be focused on jumping. She looks forward to competing against fellow 4×1 runner, Pamela Cortez, who will be running and competing for George Mason University.

 The 4 x 1 is a 400 meter race that consists of four people running; each person runs 100 meters. The first person runs a curve, the second person runs a straight away, the third person runs another curve, and the fourth person runs another straightaway. In between each leg, they pass a baton. The previous PFHS record was 50.6; however, after efforts by the 4×1 team, it’s now 50.3.

 “[Being a school record breaker] feels good. Hopefully it will stay that way for a few years after we’re gone,” said Cortez. “You never know who’s going to break it.”

 Breaking a record takes a lot of hard work and commitment. Besides practicing and training almost every day, Hurrell, Cortez, Wooten, and Pride all warm up about an hour before each race. Then, they pray and kiss the baton before lining up at their starting places. All of the runners are very proud of themselves, as they should be.

 “I wasn’t really expecting it [considering] it’s my first year doing track, I’ve also improved since the beginning of the season and it’s paid off [which is] really exciting,” said Hurrell. 4 x 1 runner Alyssa Wooten has also been balancing track and all of the stresses of junior year, something a lot of people find difficult.

 The road for these runners didn’t end here, however.Not only did they break the record, but they also qualified for states which was on June 3 and 4. Cortez has been to states sophomore, junior, and senior year.

 “[States is] very fun; it’s just making memories and having fun with my team,” said Cortez.