The NC varsity track and field team competed against nine other schools — Dunwoody, Etowah, Kell, Lassiter, Maynard H. Jackson, River Ridge, Sequoyah, Walker, Walton, and Woodstock — at the Lassiter Invitational on Saturday, March 11. NC females placed ninth overall, and the males eighth.

Female distance runners sophomores Daisy Dunlap and Lindsay O’Neill, junior Stefanie Garcia, and senior Krishna Oza placed second in the 4×800 relay with a time of 10:55.44. Dunlap followed with a time of 12:54.62 in the 3200 meter run. Dunlap’s 3200 meter time not only set a personal record but put her only fifteen seconds off of third place overall. Junior Abby Jeske also ran a personal record, placing fifth in the one mile with a time of 5:41.82.

“As soon as I stepped on the track I wasn’t expecting a good race, but as each lap passed I felt more and more confident in myself to keep pushing and the last 200 I was just ready to finish so I gave it my all,” Dunlap said.

On the sprinter side of the team, NC senior Cailen McGee placed third out of twenty-two in the 200 meter dash and finished fourth in the Women’s 400 meter dash. Sophomore Rashan Alkins placed second in the Men’s high jump. Senior Nyles Darough came in fifth with teammate Imad Strozier following closely behind in the Men’s 100 meter dash. Junior TJ Johnson came in fourth place in the Men’s 300 meter hurdles and sixth place in the Men’s 110 meters hurdles. Johnson took home another NC victory by placing first in the triple jump.

“Saturday’s meet was good for us across the board. A lot of PRs and a few medals. It’s still early in the season, and we have a lot of work to do, but we definitely saw some success,” XC and Track distance coach John Huff said.

NC’s varsity track team will be back at it tomorrow afternoon at Allatoona High School.