The outdoor track and field team hosted the Viking Invitational at Walter Johnson High School Apr. 13-14. They competed against 28 other schools during a two day meet.

The team’s best performance was on the 13th, in the girls Distance Medley Relay of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600m. Freshman Samantha Rubin, junior Shanti Ashley, junior Jenan El-Hifnawi, and sophomore Alicia Lauwers each ran a portion of that race, propelling the team to first place over three other competing teams.

On the 14th, in the girls 800 meter, senior Jenan El-Hifnawi finished 7th out of 45. Sophomore Georgia Headley finished 7th out of 29 in the girls 100m 33” hurdles. In the boys 3200 meters, junior Aaron Bratt finished 7th out of 28 opponents. In the 110m 39” hurdles, hurdler extraordinare Andreas Christofides finished 8th out of 21. The best performance of the day was sophomore Alicia Lauwers finishing 3rd in the girls 3200 meters.

The team had three dual meets against other high schools prior to this event in order to prepare. After a stellar indoor track season and a placement at the state championship, head coach Stephen Hays feels that the team is prepared for this outdoor season.

“We don’t focus on indoor, we focus on outdoor,” Hays said. “Relative to where we were last year we’re ahead. We had a great outdoor season last year, so we’re excited about this season.”

The team has a specific training schedule that they follow throughout the year, in cross country and track, and are ahead of their schedule, Hays said.

“The way our training is, we haven’t focused on speed work at all,” Hays said. “We save that for outdoor. We’re ahead of where we were last year, so we feel prepared.”

The team’s next meet is the Cassel’s XBC Track Experience at Chantilly High School on Saturday, April 28.