Boys 4x400 qualify for state meet

State Bound: Our boys 4x400 meter relay team wins the heat solidifying their qualification in the state meet. (Photo by Jennifer Britton).
​After a long day of running in the frosty, whipping wind Parker Britton ‘28, JD Grubb ‘27, Jase Rhodes ‘26, and I  came together to run the 4x400 meter relay at the Terrier Team Classic at William Byrd High School on April 12. 
We all had events before this and were tired and cold. Jase had done the 400, long jump and triple jump. JD had run the 100 and 200. Parker ran the 400 in the Distance Medley Relay and the 400 meter dash. I long jumped and ran the 400. After this long day of pushing out good times despite the weather, we all came together to try and do a one and done, run once and qualify for the state tournament 4x400. We needed a time of 4:08.49. 
I started the race in lane four. As soon as everyone came around into that first straight away, it felt like running into a brick wall with how bad the wind was. After catching the person in front of me, I handed the baton to JD for his first 400. Even though this was his first ever 400 and was very nervous about how to run it, he did very well and kept us in first place. JD put out an impressive first time 400 keeping us in 1st place.
After finishing his leg with a pained look on his face JD handed the baton to Parker Britton. Parker held the first position  as he passed the baton to Jase. Jase took off and by the end was competing side by side with the anchor from Northside, but pulled away to a decent sized win. As Jase crossed the finish line we all looked towards the clock and saw the time of 3:46.93. As we won the heat and hit the qualifying mark by a long shot we celebrated. 
“The boys’ 4x400 at the end of the day where our boys showed tremendous heart to win their heat in 3:46.93 and place a close fourth overall [in the total meet],” head coach Ed Dickenson said.