After the 4 x 800-meter relay race ended Saturday as part of the girls state track meet at Eastern Illinois, the four York runners engulfed each other in a group hug.

The quartet of sophomore Rebecca Zaiter, sophomore Stephanie Huster, senior Shreya Singh and freshman Michelle Frigo had reason to celebrate after garnering all-state honors with a fourth-place time of 9:16.87. The mark clocking was just over one second from the third position.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Singh, the lone upperclassman on the relay. “We knew the top nine get medals and we just wanted to do what we’ve been doing all season. We definitely did what we’ve done all season.
“When I was coming down the straightaway I was like this is my last race ever. I wouldn’t been able to do it without them (my teammates).”

Zaiter agreed with her running mate.

“I’m so excited to be here,” said Zaiter, who ran the opening leg. “We’ve been through so many ups and downs. We knew the whole time we would help each other get better. I felt really strong going out this race. I knew where I had to position myself. And whatever I could do, they would take care of the rest.”

The group advanced to the finals after clocking a time of 9:19.39 in the preliminaries on Friday.

“This is so exciting,” Frigo said. “I’m so happy. Yesterday (Friday) I was so nervous. Today I was only a little nervous but when I got into the tent (before the race) I couldn’t stop smiling. This is so awesome.”

The team’s time of 9:16.87 was close to 24 seconds faster than their sectional-winning mark of 9:40.80.

“I was really nervous,” Huster said, “but I knew we could do it and we did it. I love working with these three. We work really well together and we do what needs to be done. Last year we didn’t make it to the finals but early in the season, we knew we could do it. All of us wanted the same thing.”

Meghan Frigo also competed Saturday in section No. 1 of the 3,200. The junior came in at 11:18.74, which turned out to be good enough for 18th-place overall in the event.

The 4 x 100 quartet of freshman Erin McHugh, sophomore Kayla Liefeld, junior Katie Wallace and sophomore Shelby Kost took part in the prelims on Friday and finished in 50.04 seconds. Zaiter, Huster, junior Alex Blust and Michelle Frigo also teamed together in the 4 x 400 but did not move on to the finals after covering the distance in 4:05.70.