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Freshman Eleanor Lindeman competes in the girls 1600-meter run June 2. The state preliminaries will start at 9 a.m. at June 9 at St. Michaels-Albertville High School.

When senior Carlos Anguita-Smith started the final 4×100 relay race of his high school career on June 2, he said he was glad to be running together with his teammates.

“In track you don’t often see these kinds of team (events), but it was really nice,” Anguita-Smith said. “When you think about relays — you’ve got to put full trust into your teammates. Everyone’s got to do their part for you to do well, so it’s just nice being able to rely on others sometimes.”

Throughout the meet the track team found a lot of success. Several runners had personal record times, and many achieved high placements. Junior James Hager qualified for the state track meet by taking first place in the 110 meter hurdles. The 4×100 meter relay team — James Hager, Carlos Anguita-Smith, Seth Johnson, and Oliver Tadewald — broke a 43-year old school record.

By the end of the day, head coach Chris Nordstrom said he was proud of the work the runners had put in and was happy with the results.

“We’re in the best shape we’ve been in all year. We got a handful of kids on the podium and got Jimmy Hager to qualify for state,” Nordstrom said.

After coming into the 4×100 meter race with a shot at breaking the school record, Hager said it is a great feeling to have achieved that goal.

“Oliver (Tadewald) was hoping to break the school record and I was like, ‘sure, man, let’s go for it,’” Hager said. “Breaking it feels pretty good. It’s just the cherry on top of going to state.”

Not only have the runners improved their athletic ability, but they’ve also built an inclusive, close team atmosphere, according to Nordstrom.

“It was a small group that we brought,” Nordstrom said. “But they’re out there encouraging, lifting each other up, cheering each other on.“

According to freshman Nora Lindeman, she was excited that her hard work this season paid off with a personal record time on the mile.

“It went really well, I also ran the two-mile the other day and that also went really well. I PRed,” Lindeman said. “It’s really good icing on the cake to knock a whole bunch of time off.”

After qualifying for the state meet in the 110 meter hurdles event, junior James Hager said he was nervous, but happy to have the opportunity to compete at a high level.

“I’ve never been in that environment — a crazy, ridiculously high, environment like (the state meet).” Hager said. “I’m actually really excited to be in that environment, and get another week of track.”