SANTA MONICA- Geffen Academy’s track and field teams kicked off Coastal League competition with a bang on Wednesday afternoon at Santa Monica High.

The quartet of Sadie K. ’27, Abby A. ’29, Keira W. ’29 and Lila N. ’28 rocketed to a new 4:33.87 school record in the girls 4 x 400-meter relay, eclipsing the Bruins’ former mark of 4:36.92 by nearly three seconds.

Head coach Nelson Aviles lauded the girls’ effort in the race, noting some of them weren’t even expecting to run…

“We changed (the lineup) in the last minute,” Aviles said, adding that he expects the group to lower the new record even more as the season progresses.

The relay time also hit the CIF Southern Section qualifying standard for the event, earning each runner a postseason berth.

Sadie K. also finished atop the girls leaderboard in the 100m (12.96) and lowered her own individual school record in the 200m to 26.55, placing second overall. Junior Makena D. also won the girls shot put with a 26-04.00 heave. On the boys side, freshman Lenny Z. claimed second in the high jump (5-06.00) and was third in the long jump (16-10.00).

Geffen Academy returns to action on Saturday, March 14 at the Thousand Oaks Invitational.