This season marks a new start for the girl’s 4×4 team as it looks to replace two of the best track runners in school history.

Senior Kyleigh Severa is back and so is junior Myah Yoder, who was an alternate runner a year ago on the relay team that claimed the state title in the event for three consecutive years. The girls team overall also won the 6A state championship last year.

The bonds Severa and Yoder built with those who left were irreplaceable, but they continue to do well in their event.

“The thing I’ll miss the most is the chemistry I had built with those girls,” Severa said. “We had bonded so much over the past three years, they were sisters to me. I will miss the special memories we made and all of the inside jokes we had. They made track fun. Nothing will compare to that group of girls.”

Having such strong runners graduate is hard for a coach to deal with the year after, but Coach Jack Hood and the rest of the coaches are lucky to have a deep and talented team to fill the open spots.

“It is impossible to replace all that senior class did for Lawrence High,” Hood said. “Not only did they win the 4×400 three years in a row, they were a part of four school records — 4×100, sprint medley relay, 4×400, and Jensen [Edwards] broke the 800 record.”

Severa looks to set a very rare feat this year. If she helps win another title in the 4×4 this year, she will have won a title all four years at LHS.

“A four-peat in the 4×4 would be awesome,” she said. “I’m so excited to have been given the opportunity to do that this year. We’ve got a good group this year with lots of good freshmen. I’m so excited to see what we’ll do. I’m very optimistic, and I think we might surprise people.”

Severa looks to break all of her personal records from previous years, including her 4×4 time from a year ago.

“My personal goals for this season are just to improve in my times and my jumps,” she said. “I want to try and reach my 19’ in the long jump and break my PR of 58 in the 4×4.”

If the team can add good, consistent running from new runners behind what it expects out of the upperclassmen, the Lions will once again be competing for a fourth straight 4×4 title.