Sophomore Glennis Murphy pushed through one last stride across the finish line and clocked a time of 20:53.9, placing her 4×1600 relay team fifth in the nation. The Redwood 4×1600 team, composed of Murphy, senior Mary Monda Oewel, junior Rachel Bordes, and freshman Gillian Wagner, were victorious. The track lights illuminated the runners as they rushed to greet their coach at the Los Angeles-based Arcadia Invitational on April 10.

Oewel said the impressive milestone was a combination of their training, the camaraderie among the athletes, and the meet itself.

A highly selective meet, Arcadia Invitational heightened Murphy’s nerves and increased her motivation. Although the meet was highly competitive––some girls physically pushed each other during the races––the runners practice and race so frequently that every race seems to be just another, Murphy said.

“Especially at Arcadia, I was so nervous because it was a huge setting with so many fast girls. But as soon as I got the baton, all of my nerves completely disappeared,” Murphy said. “It’s race mode and you’re ready to go.”

Practicing six days a week, the distance runners motivate each other during intense workouts and encourage each other to keep going.  Practice is the most important aspect of running because it improves the runners’ fitness and strength. Even if the teammates have one bad race, it’s likely that they will do well in their other races because of their good shape, according to Murphy.

Wagner, ranked first in the 800 meters, ran 3.84 seconds faster than teammate Murphy, who ranks second in Marin County in the 800 meters. In the 1600 meters, Murphy clocked a time of 5:07.83, placing her first in Marin County and beating teammate Wagner by one second.

“The team as a whole has a really strong work ethic, especially for distance running. If you’re not willing to put in any work then you’re not going to be good and it just is what it is,” Murphy said.

Friendly competition among the tight-knit teammates further pushes the girls at practice and meets, according to Wagner. The success of this strong team derives from the diligent, high quality runners.

Oewel, ranked first in the 3,200 meter event in Marin County, makes her success look easy. However, the blue ribbons don’t come with such ease.

“As soon as the race ends I forget most of it because I’m so in the moment. But a lot of the race is telling yourself, ‘Okay keep going. Speed up. Pass this girl,’ and when it gets really hard, it’s just a lot of, ‘You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. Don’t give up, ’” Oewel said.

The long, rigorous practices prepare the distance runners well for the competition in the future, but leave individuals exhausted after practice every day.

“Last year at MCALs, right before I ran the two mile, my coach came up to me and Glennis and said, ‘You guys need to win this race because it’s going to decide whether we win MCALs or not.’ The whole time I was thinking, ‘I need to win for the team,’” Oewel said.

The runners train and pile up points together, producing impressive results and close bonds.

The tight relationships among the distance runners may successfully drive them past MCALs and NCS Redwood Empire onto Meet of Champions, where competition intensifies, according to Wagner.

The track and field’s strengths measure beyond the distance runners. In addition to good jumpers and throwers, the team has some strong new freshmen sprinters.

Although distance runners, sprinters, and jumpers are separated during the majority of practice, the teammates are all closely bonded.

“There’s about ten girls who train as varsity and we’re all really close. We have thousands of group chats together and we spend a lot of time together, we eat lunch together every day,” Oewel said.