Anyone who has been to the state meet knows that the 4x800m relay is one of the most exciting races at the meet. One relay team we will certainly be watching this postseason is Hickory's boys 4x800m relay.
The relay team, in its two forms, is comprised of five seniors. Those athletes are Bryce Edmonson, Tristan Fancher, Zach Schubert, Daniel Mudd, and Tyler Trago.
Already this outdoor season they are making history, running a VA #1 (7:43.52) breaking a 41 year old meet record to win Dogwood. Speaking of history though, let's take a look at this team's history.
Back in 2024 indoors they finished 7th running 8:09. Three of the current members were on that relay and those were Trago, Schubert, and Fancher.
Then as juniors a year ago they won the indoor title running 7:59 with the team of Fancher, Jonathan Baum, Trago, and Schubert. That exact same quartet, in the same order, would finish second outdoors in 7:56.
That brings us to this year where these boys continue to make history. Indoors they would ultimately run 7:45.83, one of the fastest times ever in the state, to win the Class 5 state title in meet record fashion. Running on that squad was Trago (1:56), Fancher (1:56), Schubert (1:58), and Mudd (1:53).
Outdoors, like we said above, they have already run very fast and lead the entire state. Though they have run 7:43, they certainly want to go faster and the math says they definitely have the ability to. If they were able to drop just one second per split they could become just the 6th school to have a sub 7:40 4x8 relay team in Virginia history.
This type of incremental success is what makes our sport great.
To win the 4x800 you need an entire relay team and not just one superstar. You need a group of athletes who work together to get better and over time chip away at that school and state meet record.
Hickory describes this perfectly where these boys have gone from 2:02 splits to 1:59 to 1:57 to even 1:53 now!
Their success is due to hard work and believing in themselves. They locked in for years and their hardwork is showing with their times.
Though there are quite a few other great relay teams in our state right now... looking at you Gainesville, Patriot, Cosby, and West Springfield... it is truly rare though to have a group of teammates who have run together this long reach their goals together.
So make sure you're subscribed to watch the state meet live on day one and don't miss these 4x8's!
Anyone who has been to the state meet knows that the 4x800m relay is one of the most exciting races at the meet. One relay team we will certainly be watching this postseason is Hickory's boys 4x800m relay.
The relay team, in its two forms, is comprised of five seniors. Those athletes are Bryce Edmonson, Tristan Fancher, Zach Schubert, Daniel Mudd, and Tyler Trago.
Already this outdoor season they are making history, running a VA #1 (7:43.52) breaking a 41 year old meet record to win Dogwood. Speaking of history though, let's take a look at this team's history.
