A year ago, Lancaster broke the high school national record in the girls 4×100-meter relay by running an incredible time of 43.84 seconds at the Donnie Conner Panther Relays in Midlothian. It was the first time any girls team had ever broken 44 seconds.
On Thursday, Lancaster produced an even faster time at the same meet and broke its own national record.
The 4×100 team of Tateayna Fuller, Vanderbilt signee Lily Pierrot, Texas Tech signee Milan Lathan and Texas signee Saniyah Miller ran 43.77 to beat runner-up Duncanville by more than a second. That gave Lancaster the top three times in national history, with the school also having run 43.91 to win the Class 6A state title last May.
“It was very special, because this is the exact same meet that we broke it at this time last year,” Lancaster girls coach LaKeidra Hayes said. “It was really special to come here again and then come out and execute.”
Lancaster showed earlier this month that a national record was going to be possible this season, as Fuller, Pierrot, Lathan and Miller ran 44.28 at the Texas A&M Bluebonnet High School Invitational, producing what was the fourth-fastest time in U.S. history at the time. That may be why Hayes wasn’t surprised by seeing her relay team smash the national record, even though it is still early in the outdoor track season.
“I wouldn’t say surprised, but it was rewarding for them to do it, especially at the same meet,” Hayes said.
Lancaster actually predicted this would happen. Last May, after winning state, Lathan said, “I feel like next year we could break the national record again.”
DeSoto set the national record with a 44.24 in 2019, but that now ranks fourth all-time after Thursday. Duncanville’s runner-up time of 44.84 on Thursday was just off its season-best time of 44.55 that ranks in the top 10 all-time.
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