The ride to Arcadia was Taylor Swift through and through. For 129 minutes, over 120.3 miles, Kaitlyn Arciaga (10), Olivia Kooyman (11), Irene Penev (11), and Delaney Hennigan (9), wound down their stress and hyped up their energy. They were in for the toughest meet of their lives.

The Arcadia Invitational, [date], is heralded as the single most competitive high school track and field competition in the United States. Runners flock in from all corners of the country, and even internationally, just to compete. Qualifying, in any division for any event, is a remarkable achievement. This year, the members of the relay team represented not just themselves, but all of Westview, on the big stage. It hadn’t been an easy road, and it wasn’t going to let up now.  

Track is a sport of numbers. The difference between qualifying and having to wait for next season, between gold, silver, and bronze, or no medal at all, boils down to hundredths of a second. Counting each breath, split, and stride, each hour of precisely divvied up training and runs planned down to the meter for months in advance, all to shave off blinks from mere minutes. 

Only two weeks before Arcadia, the four girls had felt this pressure as they finally ran a qualifying time for their 4×800 relay, a 9:57.13, at the Bronco Roundup, March 11. Later, they’d beaten that time, running 9.51.12 at the Asics Invitational on March 25.

“Arcadia had been our goal since the pre-season, so we’d been trying to run constant relays with the same team to improve our baton-passing and speed,” Penev said. “We all jumped and screamed when we found out that we’d qualified.”

It was the first time at Arcadia for Kooyman, Penev, and Hennigan. However, Arciaga was a returner, having raced the year prior in the 800m, taking home a fifth place.

“When I got [to Arcadia] I was in shock,” Hennigan said. “It was truly amazing seeing all the people in the stands that came out to watch.”

The team checked in, warmed up, and the competition began.

On April 7 at 5:25 p.m., 18 teams of four girls each gathered around the track in the temperate 67-degree weather for the girls Open Division 4×800 meter relay. Hennigan was to run first, then Kooyman, Penev, and finally Arciaga. Each of them had their own pacing styles, but there was a common focus as Henniganbegan the relay and Kooyman got in position to begin her leg of the race: don’t drop the baton.

“We’d had some trouble in past races with our baton handoffs,” she said. “So we focused on them during our training, and I made sure to line myself up and lock in the timing of my exchange.”

The team’s handoffs went smoothly, but every team had the same luck.

“Right when I got the baton, someone in front of me tripped,” Penev said. “It was actually a close call for me, but in the moment I was too focused to realize until I watched a video of it later.”

Arciaga finished her leg, known as the “anchor” in track, as the race clock struck 9.49.44, a PR for the team. They didn’t medal, but the new level of success they’d achieved was reward enough.

“During the entire race, all I could think about was pushing myself as hard as I could to get the best outcome for my team,” Hennigan said. “Everyone put their all into their leg of the race, and I wouldn’t have raced with anyone else if I got the chance.”

The following morning, on April 8, at 9:30 am, Arciaga, alone this time. She stood among 12 other girls, all competing in the Open mile race. As they filed into their lanes and listened for the starting pistol, their muscles coiled like wound springs, all runners ready to bolt off as fast as they possibly could—except for one of them. When the bang rang through the air, Arciaga quickly settled on the heels of the pack, and stayed there. 

“It was a super scary and new strategy, to sit in the very back of the pack,” Arciaga said. “Going into the third and fourth [lap], though, I was energized and knew I could kick the last lap.”

At the beginning of the season, Arciaga had been worried about her time. She wasn’t running as fast as she felt she needed to, and here she was, with a new and risky strategy, at the Arcadia Invitational. As the ending closed in, her gamble paid off. Pre-Arcadia, Arciaga set a PR of 5:20.45. Arciaga of Arcadia left her in the dust. With only one person ahead of her, she soared past the finish line at 5:01:72.

“My legs were fresh, so I really went into the race knowing I could give it my all, and there wasn’t anything holding me back,” she said. “The competition [at Arcadia] is so insane that just trying to keep up with them was my main motivation.”

At 6:20 p.m., after the conclusion of Open events, Arcadia shifted into the invitationals. The crème de la crème of track athletes, who have personally had offers of competition extended to them by Arcadia, take the field. When the 800-meter girls race rolled around, Arciaga, for her last event at the meet, was among the 13 athletes who stepped on. 

The 800-meter is a race of pacing and endurance. Deceptively long, many runners expend their energy too early in a frantic sprint to get ahead, only to burn out halfway through the race and fall behind. As she took off, Arciaga’s focus was on one thing: math.

“Calculating my speed vs distance in each lap helps me know where I need to be at each section in the run,” she said. “That way, I can put all of my energy in at the right times.”

After finishing with yet another PR of 2:10.89, Arciaga rejoined her teammates. 

Although Arcadia is infamous for being the toughest track and field meet in the nation, there was an unmistakably warm and welcoming atmosphere present, which made it a positive experience for all four girls, and an experience they got to share. 

“I love my teammates,” Kooyman said. “Running is so hard, but getting to talk with them and understanding each other gives us a special bond. They’re so supportive and some of the nicest girls I know.”

As the track and field season winds down, despite having just returned from a huge milestone, the team doesn’t have time to dwell on Arcadia for too long. Tomorrow is the Palomar League finals, where the four of them plan to race together again in hopes of continued success. 

In the back of their minds, though, is Arcadia 2024. 

“I’m so proud of how we did at this level,” Arciaga said. “There’s still lots left for us this season, and I hope we come back to Arcadia next year, and I can race with these girls again. We’ve proven we’re capable, and we can do even better—I believe in us.”