The Open State Track & Field Championships, consisting of qualifying athletes from all AIA divisions, took place at Mesa Community College on Friday and Saturday of this weekend. The Gators were represented by a small contingent of two relay teams and one distance runner.

The 2026 Xavier Track team is a young team that should improve significantly in 2027. Their improvement from the beginning of the season was phenomenal.  I expect Xavier to have more representation in the Division I and Open State Championships next year.

How young are they? The four girls on the 4x400 relay team include one freshman and three sophomores. The 4x800 relay team consists of the freshman and two of the sophomores from the 4x4 plus a junior. The distance runner is a senior.

4x800m Relay
The 4x800m Relay team of SO Nina Rao, SO LilyGrace Anderson, JR Scarlett Kinsman, and FR Avaani Lallian came to the Open State Championships with a solid season best of 9:30.52. I told the girls before the race, tongue-in-cheek, that I would delete their video if they didn't run a sub-9:30. 

4x400m Relay
The 4x400m Relay team of Anderson, Rao, Lallian, and SO Claire Hertzberg came to the Championship meet with a 4:01.10 season best. I really wanted a sub-4:00 from these girls, and I'm sure that they and Coach Eaton wanted it more.

Kennedy Frakes, Distance
And then there's our Senior, Kennedy Frakes, who came out of soccer to participate in Track for her junior and senior years. As a junior, her first year doing track, she was our top 800m runner, and she was part of the second-fastest 4x400 relay team in Xavier history. 

In the fall of her senior year, Frakes ran cross country for the first time and took third place in State.

So, this spring she moved up to the 1600m and 3200m for the first time and made #10 on the 1600m Xavier all-time top-ten list and #7 on the 3200m list.

On Friday, Kennedy ran a solid 11:00.84 in the 3200m and took 7th place, scoring two points.

On Saturday, she ran a 5:08.47 for 13th place in the 1600m.

VIDEO: 1600m Final