ELK GROVE, Calif. – The St. Francis track and field program was in a familiar position Friday night heading into the final relay with a chance to win the Sac-Joaquin Section title. For the second consecutive year, the 4×400-meter relay sealed the win completing a record-setting night for the program that resulted in the school’s sixth section title and third in the last five seasons.

“We had some really good performances all day long,” said Head Coach John DuCray. “We had a strong open 400 and finished 1-3-4. It was a real big difference maker.”

A year ago, the Troubadours needed a come-from-behind effort and win in the last race to win the team title. On Friday, St. Francis led by four points over Vacaville and clinched the win with a second-place finish in a school-record 3:48.10 performance by Lillian Enes, Kiani Reyna, Amanda Schnabel and Sydney Hunter to post the 85-83 victory.

The Troubadours won by a single point in 2013.

The night was filled by records and personal-bests as the team rallied to secure every point possible. Junior Samantha Ruggles started the day off with a third-place finish in the shot put, breaking her own school record for the fourth time this season with a throw of 40-5.75.

“I got where I wanted to be,” said Ruggles. “It was good to score some points this year.”

The 4×100-meter relay (Reyna, Ariane Arndt, Enes and Hunter) clocked a school-record 47.71 to finish second in the opening race of the day.

“I am really happy with my performance,” said Reyna. “It feels good to bring points for the team.”

Senior Lauren LaRocco then garnered the first individual section title of the meet for the team, running a school-record 4:57.51 in the 1600m to edge Davis Senior rival Fiona O’Keeffe. Miranda Myers was sixth (5:12.19) and Madison Rawson was seventh (5:12.46).

“Once I pass someone I can’t let them pass me,” said LaRocco, who took the lead after three laps. “I told myself if I was even in contact with her I gotta take it. Nothing was going to stop me. I did not know where she was so I just imagined she was right on my shoulder.”

Schnabel was fourth in the 100 hurdles with a PR for the second consecutive race, posting a 47.71 to garner five points.

“There was really great competition so that pushed me further,” said Schnabel. “Around hurdle five my race was smooth and I was not reaching for hurdles.”

St. Francis took control of the meet for the first time after the 400 meters. Sophomore Lillian Enes won the title with a late surge and lean at the line to defeat Elk Grove’s Jazmine Smith by four one-hundredths of a second with a time of 56.25.

“It felt really good,” said Enes. “At the end I was losing hope because I thought I was going to get second. But I saw her slowing down and knew I could catch her. In the end, I pushed through. I had a feeling I could beat her.”

Arndt was third overall in 56.53, while Hunter was fourth in 57.17 as the Troubies added 21 points.

Arndt and Schnabel added to the point total with a seventh-place finish in the 800m and sixth-place in the 300 hurdles, respectively. Vacaville took back the lead after the second hurdle race 73-66. But St. Francis continued to score points in the 200m and 3200m races.

Hunter posted a gutsy sixth-place finish (25.47) to pick up three points in the 200m and LaRocco set her second school mark on the night in finishing second in the 3200m with a time of 10:44.47 to add on another eight points to retake the lead and setup the final race heroics.

The 4×400 needed to stay with Vacaville and finish no worse than one place back to secure the win. Enes opened the race with a strong leg and handed off to Reyna slightly behind but Reyna took back the lead. Vacaville retook the lead on the third leg but Schnabel and Hunter maintained the second-place position and set a new school record with a time of 3:48.10.

Despite the win by Vacaville, St. Francis claimed the title with the two-point advantage.

The top 12 individual finishers advance to next week’s Masters meet where the top three in each event will advance to the CIF State Championships June 6-7.