On Sunday, Feb. 10, senior Megan Bordes raced her first competitive mile. Five minutes and seven seconds later, she broke the school record.

That day, Bordes and junior Fred Huxham ran at the University of Washington Open Meet, where they competed against other high school and collegiate athletes. Both ran in the second heat; Bordes placed seventh in her heat, and Huxham placed sixth.

According to Bordes, she and Huxham went to the meet partly to experience what it is like to compete at the collegiate level.

“It was very exciting knowing that I was going to have to race against girls who are on higher levels,” Bordes said. “Just to be able to keep up with them and just be in the race with them racing was a great feeling.”

Huxham also said that it was a good experience to see how he compares to runners who are competing such a high level.

“I raced against a guy who was in my heat, and he actually goes to the University of Washington – and I beat him,” Huxham said. “It’s nice to see that I would be able to compete on a Division I team in college and do just fine, because that’s what he’s doing.”

Despite never having run track before, Bordes, who was a captain for the cross country team, ran a 5:07 mile. Bordes said that she has found that track is very different than cross country and she still has a lot to learn.

“I’m finding that I really like the mile, I really like short distances,” she said. “I guess I’ll find myself along the way throughout the season. I’m still learning, but right now I really like the mile.”

Huxham ran a 4:19 mile, a personal record. Unlike Bordes, this meet was far from his first time racing a mile – but it was his first time racing on an indoor track. He said that because the track was smaller (just over 300 meters, as opposed to the regular 400), there was more contact between runners and the 400-meter mark changed as he ran.

“It was definitely different – I had never run on an indoor track before, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” Huxham said. “I didn’t have my best race up there, but it was nice to see that even when I don’t have my best race that I can still PR, and that’s a good sign for how fit I am for this season.”

Huxham and Bordes both have high hopes for the season, and said that the team has been practicing and performing well.

“Looking over at the kids who have trained, like during winter training, everyone’s just come together and everyone’s looking pretty sharp,” Bordes said. “We just have a great group of kids, and we all share this one common goal, and that’s what makes it so great.”