Track and Field breaks school record

Noki Lam

Online Managing Editor

Costa’s boys 4x100m relay team, composed of sophomore AJ McBean, senior Mac Lamkin, and juniors Caden Enright and Luke Leonard shattered a 15 year old school record of 42.72 set in 2010 with a time of 41.89.

The boys’ performance is a substantial step forward in Costa’s legacy,  and the time additionally knotted them team a ranking of 9th in California.

“We want to compete against the best teams in California,” Leonard said. “We have this goal in addition to our goal of wanting to break Costa’s records.” 

According to McBean, the team had confidence in their abilities, but clearing the previous school record was a surprise. McBean hopes that the record that they set will motivate the team to reach even higher levels of performance in the 4x100m.

“It was kind of a shock that our time was far faster than the previous record because it wasn’t even close,” McBean said. “Ever since then we have been working to get better each meet believing that we have the ability to break our own record.”

The team has practiced running their relay intensely in addition to their individual sprint training, Leonard says. He believes that their work in practice as a team will continue translating to their unity on the track and allow them to conitnue to succeed and break more records. 

“We prepare to run these times almost daily at practice, especially focusing on our hand-offs to one another,” Leonard said. “We give all of our energy to make sure that we are ready to run as a team at 1000%.” 

Leonard attributes their success in their training to their coach, Moe Russell. Russell, a former alumni of Costa who once held Costa’s school freshman and sophomore 100m records, is approaching his 30th year as the program’s sprint coach. Russell’s experience has allowed for this year’s sprint relay team to excel in the competition, according to Leonard. 

“Our coach Moe has been a huge factor in our success this year,” Leonard said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without his supportive coaching and his strong belief in all of his athletes.”