Track & Field: 4x800 boys break school record, take 3rd at state

The Douglas High boys' 4x800 track relay team managed to better their regional championship time by more than two seconds Friday afternoon at the NIAA 4A State Championships at Damonte Ranch.

Brad Boyd, James Leonard, Seth White and Derrick Jenkins completed the race in 8:03.06, breaking the school record in the event for the second time this season and bettering the Damonte stadium record they'd broken just the week prior.

The only thing was, Galena had just a little more.

Galena slid standout Joe Abbott, who won three regional titles last week but did not run in the relay, into the anchor leg and reaped the quick dividends by claiming the state title with a new stadium record of 8:01.22.

Las Vegas High finished right behind at 8:02.42 and Douglas took third.

The top three finished well ahead of the rest of the field in a race that was run at a blistering pace from start to finish.

Coronado took the early lead in the race and Boyd fell back to sixth after one lap.

He gained a couple spots during the next lap and handed the baton to Leonard with Douglas in third.

Leonard fell back to fifth but made his move with about 200 meters left in his leg and handed the baton to White in a solid second.

White claimed the lead during his first lap, with Galena trailing in a close second, but Galena reclaimed it down the final stretch before with Las Vegas and Douglas nearly even.

Abbott, who won the individual 800 at regionals, took off but Jenkins was able to keep pace with him and the Las Vegas runner throughout.

Abbott pulled away slightly down the final stretch, but Douglas still came in under record pace.

The rest of the events on day one of the state championships continued well into the night.