On March 4, 2022, Placer High hosted the annual LeFebvre Relay for track and field athletes to compete in from schools around Northern California. 

     The LeFebvre Relay was the first-ever relay meet in California, and is still the longest-running track meet in Northern California. Many track teams around Placer High come out for this historical event every year. 

     “This is our eighty-third year having the LeFebvre Relay,” stated head track and field coach, Amanda Roberts, “We are going to have fifteen different teams from all over coming to our race.” 

     An event this large, with this much tradition, can be stressful to put together. With so many teams participating, it can be difficult to get all the materials and volunteers needed for an almost seven hour event. 

     “It is very overwhelming to run an event this large. I have been working on it for quite a while, from buying food for the snack bar and getting that all setup, to figuring out what all my athletes are going to run, and figuring out what the relay teams are going to be, and what workers and volunteers we are going to have with teachers and parents helping to run the events. It starts at 12:30 with lunch and ends at 7:00 so it takes a lot of volunteers with lots of stuff happening all at once,” explained Roberts. 

     The tradition of the LeFebvre Relay is important to Placer’s history and is a big part of our school spirit for sports. 

     “The relay event was very special, it was sad that last year I was unable to experience it, but it’s been a great way to start the track season,” said sophomore track athlete, Leah Booth, “All the excitement and the cheering is enjoyable, and being able to meet other athletes from different schools was great.” 

     A few obstacles that had to be faced to run this event included parking difficulties due to construction on campus and weather conditions. 

     “This is our 83rd year having the LeFebvre Relay, and this year we have faced challenges such as rain, which is not that uncommon for this meet, but we do have to put way more pop tents up, some teams are trying to come over the pass so due to snow they can’t come, and parking has been a real nightmare for normal school,” stated Roberts “We are bringing fifteen teams here that all need somewhere to park so it might be a disaster.” 

     Placer’s team did great, our junior varsity team won two golds, two silvers, and one bronze medal. Our varsity ended the event with six golds, three silvers, and four bronze medals. 

     “I think our team did fantastic, everyone did great and because of that, we got 2nd for the entire meet. I participated in the 4×4, the 65m hurdles, and the sprint medley. I got two silver medals, and I was really proud of my whole team and how well we all competed.” said freshman track athlete, Julian Lewandowski. 

     This meet was a great way to start off the track season and showed all the potential for the upcoming meets. 

     “I felt pretty good about our performance, we had a lot of spirit and we all worked really hard. The whole event was really fun and everyone had a great time,” expressed Josie Brost, sophomore track athlete. “I participated in the 4×2 relay and the 4×1 relay, and I really enjoyed all of it, so I think our team is going to do really well this season.”

     The 83rd LeFebvre Relay meet was a complete success, with fun times for athletes from all different schools and Placer. This year’s event made up for the absence of the tradition the year before.