Sophomore Teagan Reiss broke the school record for the 400 meter dash at the track meet in Fredericksburg March 22.

“The toughest part of the race was definitely trying to perform to the expectations that were set for me,” Reiss said. “Yes, the physical part definitely sucked, but the mental part was even harder.”

To Teagan breaking the school record means that her hard work has been paying off. 

“When I started track in seventh grade, I always wanted my name to be remembered in some way, so all the work I put into the sport wouldn’t be forgotten,” Reiss said.

Reiss said breaking more records would be awesome.

“It feels awesome [holding the school record],” Reiss said. “I’ve been staring at the record from 1997 every day since the beginning of freshman year, hoping that one day my name would be there instead.” 

Reiss said the Badger Pride’s they do every Tuesday helped her the most.

“Coach Hand makes me run with the boys, and it truly does push me to run harder and get further,” Reiss said. “It helps me realize my potential and how quickly I can finish a lap if I’m being pushed.”

At the meet, a girl seeded to run faster than Reiss motivated her.

“I knew that if I wanted to break the record at the meet, she would be my ticket to doing so,” Reiss said. “I paced myself off of her, and just made sure I was in front of her. We ended up pushing each other enough to where we both PR’d!”

Reiss said her parents who drove so far out of their way to go see her run was what pushed her to do her best. 

“Most of the time they’re leaving work early and driving two hours one way to watch me run for less than a minute,” Reiss said. “So when every part of my body is screaming at me to stop running, or to slow down, I listen for their voices.”

Reiss is aiming for an even faster time now. 

“I think with the right environment and people, I could run a sub 58,” Reiss said.

Reiss said her time after breaking the record puts her in a good position to return to regionals this year, and maybe even attend state.

“When I saw my time on the screen, it was like all of the exhaustion just left my body,” Reiss said. “The first thing I did was run to Coach [Connie] Hand and give her a hug, as she’s been pushing me to this point for two years now and has never once doubted me. I was ecstatic, and just ran around telling all of my friends, coaches, parents, anyone around really.”

Sophomore Jade Guzman said when Teagan finished her race she saw her jumping around and running to Hand.

“We were all so happy for her,” Guzman said. “She got second place in her race by only 0.01 seconds, but all we could think about was how she broke the record and that we were proud of her.”

Guzman said seeing how hard Teagan pushes herself inspires her to work harder in what she does for track.

“It felt amazing, I remember cheering her on for the last 100 meters of the race and I was nervous to see her time,” Guzman said. “I thought it was so funny how she got second by only 0.01 seconds, but when I heard she broke the school record I was so happy for her because I knew how badly she wanted to do that.”