Eight student athletes from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School traveled to Eugene, Oregon last weekend to put sneaker to rubber at the Nike Outdoor Nationals track and field championship. 

The high school’s boys sprint medley and girls 4x100 meter relay teams qualified for the “emerging elites” tier of competition. Camille Brand, who runs with the 4x100 meter team, also qualified for “championship” tier of competition in the high jump, her primary event.

Only 38 young women across the nation qualified for the “championship” competition tier, the highest level of competition at the Nike Outdoor championship, coach Joe Schroeder said. 

Rodeo Purves Langer, Lucas Martins, Luis Costa, and Kaniel Morgan, running boys sprint medley relay, placed 17th of 25 teams competing at the emerging elites level.  

Brand, Madison Mello, Jahzarah McIntosh, and Caroline Bettencourt, running girls 4x100 meter relay, placed 15th of 25 teams.

In the high jump, Brand did not advance past the first round of the competition. She had spent the past two weeks recovering from a minor, late-season injury, Coach Schroeder said. 

“She was in the highest level that you can be at the nationals,” Coach Schroeder said. “Just to be on that stage says a lot about her and her accomplishments. So by no means is it a loss.”

Coach Schroeder has taken athletes to the Nike Outdoor competition before, including Brand, who competed in the emerging elites competition last year. 

“Eugene, Oregon is the host of multiple championships. The NCAA, the Olympic trials, the World Championships have all been held at Hayward field. So pretty special to have our kids on that track,” Coach Schroeder added. 

Of the eight athletes that competed at nationals, six are set to return to the track team next year. Only McIntosh and Bettencourt, on the women’s 4x100 meter relay team, graduated this spring. The entire boys sprint medley team will return next year.

“We have a super young team,” Coach Schroeder said. “I’ll miss the senior leadership that we had, because they were very key in the development of the team. But for sure, I’m excited for next year.”