Vipers Track Club wins historic national title in 4x400 mixed relay

The Vipers Track Club made history at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championships over the weekend at Savannah State University in Georgia.

Twenty-four athletes earned All-America honors for the Vipers, including six athletes from the Daily Journal area.

But the highlight of the week came when the 4x400-meter mixed relay team featuring Kankakee’s Clifton Martin and Trinity Noble, along with Mahomet-Seymour’s Madalyn Marx and Normal Community West’s Damir Harris, earned a national title in the 17/18-year-old division.

That title came in the first 4x400 mixed relay held at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships, with the team setting the pace with a national-record time of 3:32.42.

Martin said it was exciting to be the first relay team to win a national title in the event and to experience winning a title in a new event on the biggest stage.

“It was good because I don’t think I ever would have done that, because we don’t have it at our state or high school track meets,” he said. “So to be able to go out there and do it, it was fun. It was weird, but fun.”

Noble agreed that the mixed 4x400 felt a bit strange, but said that the experience was an enjoyable one.

“I feel like it’s different just because it’s not a regular race you see all the time, so that’s exciting,” she said. “It was fun just running with people you usually don’t run with, seeing how we all compete as one.”

Martin and Noble also connected on one of the transfers in the race, with the two Kankakee classmates helping keep the team at a blistering pace to finish almost four seconds ahead of the competition.

“I know that [Martin] works hard on the track, as well, so I feel like his confidence kind of boosted mine,” she said. “Once I saw him coming into the home stretch, he was pushing as hard as he can, and I said, ‘It’s my time to do the same thing.’”

Noble and Martin earned All-America honors for their work in the 4x400 mixed relay, with Noble also earning All-America status in the girls 17/18 4x400 relay (3:51.76) along with Kankakee teammate Jamya McMurtry and in the girls 17/18 4x100 relay (46.71) with fellow Kay Da’Mariana Tooles.

Kankakee’s Essence Bell was crowned a three-time All-American. She earned the honor with a sixth-place finish in the girls 15/16 200 (24.78) and as part of the girls 15/16 4x100 relay that placed second (47.12) and the girls 15/16 4x400 relay that finished third (3:55.40).

Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nevaeh Brown joined Bell on both of those 15/16 relay teams to earn a pair of All-America honors.

Vipers director and Kankakee track and field coach Marques Lowe said he was happy to see so many of his athletes succeed in Savannah, especially with the temperatures approaching 100 degrees at times and the heat index surpassing triple digits.

“It was an amazing experience,” he said. “We had a couple of first-timers, and they all did well. They competed under some extreme circumstances with the heat index and it being a little hotter than we’re used to. But I think they all were able to perform the best they could, and it was just a great showing from our program.”

The program’s performance at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships wrapped the 15th season of competition for the Vipers.

Lowe said that over that time, it has been great to witness how the program and its athletes have continued to thrive.

“It’s humbling because so many of the athletes continue to show up and so many of those athletes continue to strive to be great,” he said. “It’s always just nice to see them do amazing things. At the end of the day I really enjoy the athletes being able to come into the program and learn and grow together. To see them go off to the next level to do great things is amazing as well.”