Regionals Day 1: Chestatee girls smash 4X800 relay school record

 

CLEVELAND, GA - It has been 12 years since a Chestatee girls team set a school record in the 4x800m.  Breaking that record was an immediate goal tasked to this team from the moment they ran their first race together earlier this season.  After coming within a second of the record, sickness and absences sidelined the goal...until today.  While competing in the 3A-6 Regional finals, Isabella McClenathen, Crystal Vaca, Kayleigh McBride, and anchor leg Emma Dobson etched their names into the Chestatee record book by finishing 3rd with a 10:30.38, beating the 2014 record by almost 9 seconds.

The girls seemed more excited about breaking the record than realizing that their team also qualified to compete at Sectionals next week at Jefferson High School.  The girls were given their splits and they went to work.  Freshman Isabella McClenathen and Junior Crystal Vaca were steady and were under their pace time to allow Senior Kayleigh McBride and Freshman Emma Dobson to close a commanding lead by Pickens for second place down to 2 seconds when Dobson crossed the finish line.

In other events, Emma Dobson finished in 3rd place in the 3200m finals with a time of 11:32.18 which qualifies her to the Sectional meet next week.  Kayleigh McBride finishes her season with a 6th place finish with a 12:32.28 and junior Vanessa Valdez finishes her season in 15th with a PR time of 14:18.95.  Miguel Valdez also finished with a PR of 12:49.66 but ends his season in 15th place.  Fellow teammate Andrew Laborde finished in 16th with 13:12.97.

The only event with preliminary rounds was the 800m.  Emma Dobson finished in 5th place with a time of 2:30.13 and pushes her through to the 800 finals on Day 2 of the meet.  Isabella McClenathen finished in 10th with a PR of 2:39.36 and Kayleigh McBride finished in 12th with a 2:48.45.  For the boys, Andrew Laborde finished in 19th with a 2:45.85 and Miguel Valdez finished in 20th with a 2:49.14.

Day 2 of competition will take place on Thursday afternoon with the 800m and 1600m finals.

Meet Results: https://www.chestateexc.com/results/outdoor-track/4-21-region-3a-6
Photos: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/photos
Articles: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/articles-archive
Schedule: https://www.chestateexc.com/schedule/outdoor-track-2026

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