OPHS track team wins meet against Royal

Students discuss the effort that went into the results of the competition

Marina Avramenko and Natalie Baghdanian

April 8, 2026

JV and Varsity girls begin their race.

Marina Avramenko

Sophomore Malcolm Caughey passes the baton to senior Milo Labor during the varsity 4x400 relay

On Wednesday, March 25, Oak Park High School’s track team hosted a meet against Royal, where the team scored highly in all categories – sprints, jumps and throwing competitions – winning 429-107 overall. The event spanned over five hours, during which the OPHS Track & Field athletes set many crucial records.

The 200 meter school record holder, Junior Nevada Ford reflects on the preparations for the meet.

“Leading up to it, the weeks before, I trained hard,” Ford said. “By my third race of the day, I was pretty tired, but I think the races earlier actually kind of warmed me up […] so that I was able to run fast during the race.”

During the first few races – the Men’s Varsity 100 and 200 meter sprints – Ford placed first. Then, as the sun went down and the meet neared its end, Ford and his team set personal best relay timings for both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter Men’s Varsity races.

Sophomore Malcolm Caughey passes the baton to senior Milo Labor during the varsity 4×400 relay (Marina Avramenko)

While all Men’s Varsity categories – with the exception of hurdles – witnessed upperclassmen take first place, the women’s varsity category remained more volatile, with breakthrough underclassmen sweeping top ranks.

Freshman Aine Pitillo won the Women’s Varsity 1600 meter with a time of 5:16:73, a new personal best. And, despite a personal best in the Women’s 800 Meter, Pitillo would rank fourth, just under first-place-winner, freshman Kathleen Lambe, who set a personal record of 2:19:61. In fact, in Women’s Varsity 800 meter sprints, all top seven athletes achieved either a season or personal best.

The individual components of the sport can make competitions nerve-racking.

“I’m always overthinking my jumps,” sophomore Gwynneth Mureika said. “I have to try to reset and just think ‘I’m going to make it every time I jump.’ Also, talking to people helps, so I try to always make new friends and talk to a bunch of other people.”

The team will participate in two more league meets before finals and CIF, as well as five more invitational meets for select athletes. They are proud of this season’s accomplishments thus far.

“I’ve hit a lot of personal bests this season,” Mureika said. “For high jump, at the first official meet I jumped 5’4, which was a two inch PR from my last one. That was really exciting to start because that was my goal for the season. Then [for] long jump last weekend, I PRd by a lot and I’ve been struggling to PR in long jump so it was really fun.”

Mureika and fellow short-distance sprinters, sophomore Cherish Antonio and senior Emma Baskin, all battled for top positions in Women’s Varsity 100 and 200 meter races, each setting new personal bests. Together, they participated in the 4×100 varsity relay race, securing first place for the team with another new personal best. The varsity distance runners mirrored this victory within their own 4×400 relay, stretching the gap between Oak Park and Royal’s amassed points.

From left to right: junior Quinn Baumann senior Nicolas Ramezani and senior Michelle Vu (Marina Avramenko)

To those who wish to support the OPHS track & field team, the next league meet is on April 8 at Simi Valley. The team’s schedule, statistics, etc., are all available on their page at athletic.net.

“It just feels really good, it’s a lot of hard work culminating into one moment,” junior Louis Liu said.

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