TRACK & FIELD: Reavis caps track career with 400m school record

May 18—Paiten Reavis has just about done it all for Claremore track and field.

Whether in individual sprints, relay races or field events, the senior has continually proven she has an unrivaled athletic pedigree among her teammates and many of her predecessors.

She solidified her legacy in the program's lore even more over the weekend in Ardmore at the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Class 5A State Championships.

This was the fourth and final state meet for Reavis, and she went out on top and pushed aside a Lady Zebra legend in the process.

Reavis broke the school record in the 400-meter dash in the preliminary round Friday, covering the quarter-mile distance in 59.77 seconds. The time sent her to the top of the record books, passing previous record holder Katelyn Alexander and her time of 59.78 seconds, which has stood since 2016.

"At first, I was just trying to break 60," Reavis said. "I knew the school record was right there, but I also thought it was two seconds slower than what it was, so I was like, 'Oh no, I didn't break it.' Then my friend called one of the coaches, and was like, 'I think she broke the record.' I started jumping up and down, and I hugged my friend and just started crying.

"I could see the girl in front of me, and I could hear my friends screaming to my right, so I knew it was close. I just knew I had to pick it up and really use my arms. I shocked myself, actually."

Reavis went on to medal in the event, finishing fifth in the finals in 60.33 seconds. Anjewl Murillo of Guthrie won the race in 58.54 seconds.

It was the highest finish of the weekend for the Claremore girls, who placed 17th of 28 teams with 16 points. Bishop Kelley won the team championship with 106 points.

Her big weekend didn't end there, though.

Reavis also took fifth in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 3/4 inches. Ardmore's Naughtica Douglas claimed the top spot, jumping 16-7 3/4 .

"I wasn't jumping very good that day, but then again, no one else was either," Reavis said. "It was difficult, but I pushed through."

She also helped two relay teams to top-10 finishes.

The 4x100-meter team (Lynie Bailey, Rachel Yewell, Laya Knight, Reavis) finished eighth in 50.99 seconds, just 1.76 seconds behind champion Midwest City (49.23).

Yewell, Knight and Reavis are all seniors while Bailey is a freshman, so Reavis said she hopes the trio of upperclassmen set the stepping blocks to success for the newcomer.

"Now she kind of knows how a team's supposed to work and just push each other and not run against each other," Reavis said. "I think now she'll know to work through teamwork."

The 4x400 team (Yewell, Samantha Huggins, Natalie Bump, Reavis) then closed the meet with a 4:15.89 to take ninth. Bishop Kelley won the race in 4:01.00.

Reavis was the anchor leg for both groups.

"I knew at the 300-meter mark that it was about to end, and I needed to go all out," Reavis said of the 4x400 race. "I could see Rachel, and she was already done, and I was so proud of everyone who ran that day.

"I worked really hard for it, and now the freshman next year will hopefully take that place, too," she added about earning the anchor legs.

Reavis was also a star for the softball team, earning All-Region honors last fall, but she will not be competing again on the diamond or the track.

She is instead retiring from competitive athletics to focus on academics in college. She hasn't decided where she will continue her academic career at this time.

"It kind of just happened over time," Reavis said of her decision to forgo athletic opportunities at the next level. "It wasn't really a set decision."

Emma Robinson, a freshman, also earned points for the girls, placing sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:32.37. Gwyneth Meyers of Bishop Kelley, who is also a freshman, won the race in 5:08.84, shattering the state-meet record by nearly six seconds.

Robinson also placed ninth in the 800 meters (2:25.03) and anchored the 4x800 relay team (Lillian Miles, Huggins, Tagen Provence, Robinson) to 11th place with a time of 10:41.75.

Bishop Kelley reigned supreme in those events as well with Malana Eureste, a freshman, taking the 800 in 2:14.96 while its relay team — which included both Meyers and Eureste — won the 4x800 by more than 12 seconds with a time of 9:46.49.

Elsewhere, Emily Wofford closed her career with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault, reaching a height of 9-00. Piedmont's Karelle Morgan logged an 11-00 vault for the win.

On the boys side, the 4x200 squad of Dylan Cryder, Heston Wilson, Ashton Andrews and Lane Pitts earned the team's only points of the weekend after placing sixth in 1:31.28. Midwest City won the race in 1:28.01.

Claremore finished 25th of 28 teams with six points while Piedmont won the team title with 96 points.