Any girl’s track team in the country that has four girls under the 2:20 will try to put together a solid 4x800m relay team in the hope of winning a State Championship, or possibly a national championship.  Surely a team of this caliber has the potential of getting All-American status at a Nike Nationals meet, but the trick of this race is getting all four runners to run to their potential on the same day.

     Ironically, the Thomson Valley High School track team does just the opposite – the girls run faster in relays then they do during their own individual races.  This season, the top-4 girls for the Eagles are as follows: Laura Tremblay (2:15.10), Liz Tremblay (2:18.32), Brooke Regan (2:19.38), and Karina Ernst (2:19.80).  Adding up their PRs, the relay time would total 9:12.60; however, the foursome’s 4x8 season-best is a US #3 9:04.94.

     “They definitely get geared up for the relays,” Coach Matt Norton said. “When I got here six years ago, the relays really got the program this competitive edge.”  The importance of running for each other and for the team has translated from the Eagles’ success during the 2008 cross country season.  Thompson Valley placed 4th at the NXN Southwest Regional, carried by the 1st place finish of Senior Laura Tremblay.

     Coach Matt Norton feels that over the past four years, the 4x8 relay squad has significantly grown because of the experience of national and regional-USA meets, and furthermore from the Senior leadership of the class of 2009.  “Those three seniors have been the cornerstones of our track and cross country programs.  They have carried the torch for us for awhile,” Norton said.  The three University of Colorado recruits, Laura and Liz Tremblay and Brooke Regan, will team up with freshman phenom Karina Ernst at 10:40am for the 4x800m Final at this year’s 4A State Championship.

     But these girls have set higher standards as a team then just winning a 4x800m championship.  “Everyone on our 4x8 could get to sub-2:15 this season.  Liz and I could probably get to sub-2:10 as well,” Laura Tremblay said. “I believe that we have the potential to be somewhere in the 8:40s this year.”  The Eagles’ 9:04 season-best is certainly well on its way towards the All-Colorado record (9:01), and possibly the national high school record (8:43).

     “I’m more excited for the relays.  I feel like I’m running for my team rather than for myself.  It’s much more motivating for me when it’s a team race,” Laura Tremblay explained.  The Eagles have found a sense of comfort in the relay events from years past, and has proven to be especially evident during the 2009 outdoor season.  These girls want to win titles for each other, rather than to simply win individual championships that cannot be celebrated with the team as a whole.  “There is some type of bond out there when you are running for three other girls” Brooke Regan said.  “There is a relay camaraderie that you can’t get from an open event.”

     Although Thompson Valley is the clear favorite to win this year’s 4x8 title in 4A, it will still have to take down the 2008 winner – Alamosa High School.  The Eagles are ranked third in the USA as of mid-May, have a PR faster than all Colorado teams by 13 seconds, and have a PR faster than all Colorado 4A schools by 38 seconds.  Nonetheless, Coach Norton feels that Alamosa High School (ran 9:28.44 last season) could still make a scare because of Alamosa trying to hide the true strength of its relay squad throughout the season.  “They definitely have the potential to push.  I would be surprised if they don’t use their best girls, since this would be an event they need to score lots of points in.  Alamosa runs most of their meets at 7,500-8,000 feet too, so who knows how fast they could possibly go when they run at a lower altitude,” he said.  This year’s State Finals will be held at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, which peaks at about 5,400ft in elevation.

     Certainly this event could be considered the “race to watch” on Thursday, since the Eagle girls will attempt to take-over as the new US #1 this season; however, they have a goal that transcends all relays and individual performances – repeating their 4A team State Championship.  Given that Thompson Valley lives up to its dominating performances throughout the season at the 2009 State Meet, the Eagles would have a very realistic shot at defending their 2008 crown.  “Winning another State Title is something all of us had in the back of our heads as we were training this season,” Brooke Regan said.  “Ultimately, it would be the culmination of all of our hard work in both the relays and individual events.  You need to run well in both to win a team State Title.”  This year, the Eagles have secured the #1 seed for all the relays, and have several scorers in sprinting, middle-distance, distance, and field events.  “We’re probably an 80-90 point team if all goes well for us,” Coach Norton said.  Thompson Valley will be running in its own league if it lives up all its hype, considering the next closest teams – Alamosa, Widefield, and Windsor – realistically have only 50 points each as their goals.

     In addition, the CHSAA has changed the State Championship schedule from a 2-day format to a new 3-day schedule, starting on Thursday morning (May 14th) and ending on Saturday night (May 16th).  This will be an advantage to Thompson Valley High School’s chances of repeating this season, since many girls will be competing in multiple events.  Also, the new schedule now consists of all preliminary events being run on separate days than their finals.  The heat sheets and schedule of the 2009 4A State Championship can be found at http://chsaa.org/.

     Thompson Valley will swarm the track this weekend with several individuals: Laura Tremblay, Liz Tremblay, Karina Ernst, Brooke Regan, Sarah Van Horn, Katie Lindenmuth, Shelby Soucek, Justine Boddy, Alicia Randall, and Jessica Cunningham.  Also, all of the Eagles’ relay quartets have the top seeds in their respective events: 4x100m (49.47), 4x200m (1:43.54), 4x400m (3:51.93), 4x800m (9:04.94), and the 800 SMR (1:47.47).  Clearly, soaring to new heights and breaking records along the way seems to be the Eagles’ plan for this weekend.  In Coach Norton’s words, “We’ve got more potential points out there than anybody else.”