ELK GROVE, Calif. – Senior Ariane Arndt reset her own Sac-Joaquin Section meet record in winning the 400 meters and led two relays to team titles as the St. Francis track and field team shined at Elk Grove High School Friday night.

“It is always an honor to be out here and run against amazing competition with amazing teammates and coaches,” said Arndt. “It has been a great four years and I am excited to finish off strong and have such a good end at sections.”

Arndt, the defending champion in the 400 meters, ran a school-record breaking time of 54.87, shattering her mark of 55.39 set last season in the same race. Arndt finished her section career with six titles.

“My goal all year was to break 55 (seconds) and I finally did that,” said Arndt. “I am really excited.”

Arndt, who owns one of the top times in the nation in the 800 meters, advanced to the Masters meet with her finals appearance and seventh-place finish (2:21.45).

The Troubadour relays won titles in both events. The meet started with the 4×100-meter relay (Kiani Reyna, Arndt, Lilly Enes and Meaghan Rogers) winning in a season-best 47.78. It was the second-fastest time in school history and the section leading time.

“That is always the goal and something you worry about as a coach,” said Interim Head Coach Rod Jett of his relay team’s peaking. “You want to make sure they run their best races at this point in the season. They are doing that and they can go faster.”

The 4×400-meter relay (Reyna, Enes, Elizabeth Hennessy, Arndt) edged out rival Vacaville in 3:48.11 to record a season-best time. It was the second-fastest time in school history behind only the 3:45.02 posted at the state meet in 2014 to finish third.

“It is great to have the team back together again and have that family connection,” said Arndt. “That is what makes track fun. Running individually is great but having the team and support is amazing to be around.”

Reyna, who will run at Sacramento State next year, led off both races and staked the teams to early leads that were converted to wins.

“I wanted to get everyone the lead especially in the 4×400,” said Reyna. “My goal is to get them the lead so they don’t have to work as hard. It was very important to get the lead because our time was behind Vacaville entering this race.”

Senior Elizabeth Hennessy won the consolation heat of the 300m hurdles in a personal-best 45.20, the third-fastest time in school history in the event.

“Going into it I was nervous because I had not have a good race last week but I had a lot of coaches and people that were cheering for me that made me really confident that I could do it,” said Hennessy. “I decided to have fun with it and race my best. Actually it worked out well.”

Junior Meaghan Rogers placed second in 12.61 in the consolation 100 meter heat to advance to the Masters in addition to her relay anchor on the 4×100.

“I ran really close to my personal best (12.60) and it is really cold outside so it makes me excited,” said Rogers. “The preliminaries did not go real well. I was mentally tripped up. But I wanted to go out today and have a pretty good race. I am glad I was able to execute.”

She also placed 16^th in the long jump with a best jump of 16-2 on Friday.

Senior Chase Worthen, who will run at Cal Poly next year, had her own personal-best in the 1600, placing ninth in 5:07.25 to meet the qualification time for Masters. It moved her into the Top 10 on the all-time performance list.

“I am really happy with a PR,” said Worthen. “I could not ask for anything more. I finally broke my 5:11 that I have been trying to break for the last two years. It feels really, really good to have it all pay off in the time it matters most and to qualify for Masters next week. I am so happy to continue my season and not be done with track yet.”

Sophomore Sydney Vandegrift continued her breakout track season with 10:43.87 to finish behind Davis senior Fiona O’Keefe.

“I was really looking for that PR,” said Vandegrift. “I am looking forward to Masters and going out there and qualify like Peyton (Bilo) did (last year).”

The final individual qualifier was Enes, who will run at Yale in the fall, in the 400 meters. She placed fourth behind Arndt in 56.57, a season-best and best time since she won the event at sections as a sophomore (56.25).

“I wanted to get my overall PR (56.2) but I know I can get that next time,” said Enes. “I really want to get down to 55. I am not ending this track season without surpassing my personal record. That is my goal.”

St. Francis finished third overall in the team standings. Davis won the overall team title, stopping a three-year run by the Troubadours atop the standings.

“It was a great meet,” said Jett. “We knew it was unlikely we could beat Davis for the team championship. All the events we expected to do well, we did with several season-bests. It was a good day.”

The Masters trials will take place on Thursday, May 26. Running events start at 4 p.m. with the finals the next night. The top three (3) placers in each final shall qualify for the State Meet to be held June 3 and 4 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.