How Servite Rewrote California Sprint History and Entered the Greatest Team Debate

The first sign something special was happening came long before the records.

Before the sub-40 relays.

Back in February, Servite was simply fast.

The Friars opened the season with a 40.05 in the 4x100 relay, good enough to sit atop the national rankings at the time. Their 4x200 relay was already among the fastest in America. Their 4x400 relay was climbing the national leaderboard as well.

The times were impressive, but they didn't necessarily feel historic.

Not yet.

What coaches and competitors noticed first wasn't a record. It was the depth.

Benjamin Harris was already one of California's premier sprinters. Sophomore twins Jace and Jorden Wells were developing into stars. Kamil Pelovello kept producing quality marks every weekend. Jaelen Hunter gave the program one of the state's top quarter-milers. Later in the season, RJ Gardner would return and add yet another elite piece.

Most high school relay teams have a star.

Servite had an all-star roster.

Looking back now, that depth explains everything.

Because when the records started falling, they never stopped.

The barrier California couldn't break

For nearly four decades, California sprinting had chased a number.

Forty seconds.

Long Beach Poly's 40.14 from 1999 stood as the fastest 4x100 relay ever produced by a California high school. Before that came Hawthorne's legendary 40.24 at the 1989 CIF State Championships, a mark that somehow survived 37 years despite generations of Olympians, NCAA champions and future professionals attempting to erase it. Nobody can forget Newbury Park's 2021 electric distance crew, but that is a whole different classification in my opinion. (Their top five runners set the fastest 5k team average (14:14) in cross country history and dominated on the track as well.)

Graph showing the CA 4x100-meter relay record progression — California waited 37 years for a team to break Hawthorne's state meet record. Servite lowered the state's all-time best mark twice in eight days. | Roland Padilla

Nobody could.

The state's greatest sprint programs — Long Beach Poly, Hawthorne, Carter, Serra, Mission Viejo and countless others — all took their shot.

Forty seconds remained untouched.

Then came April 4.

At the Trabuco Hills Invitational, Servite lined up Harris, Jace Wells, Jorden Wells and Pelovello.

Thirty-nine point eighty-two.

The clock barely seemed believable.

For the first time in California history, a high school team had broken the 40-second barrier.

The moment instantly entered state track and field lore.

A record that had survived 27 years was gone.

A barrier that had resisted decades of elite athletes was gone.

California finally had its first sub-40 relay.

For most teams, that would have been the defining accomplishment of a generation.

For Servite, it lasted one week.

Arcadia and the moment the conversation changed

Every great team has a performance that changes how it's viewed.

For Servite, that moment came at Arcadia.

Already carrying the title of California's first sub-40 relay team, the Friars arrived at one of the nation's premier meets with a chance to prove their breakthrough wasn't a one-off.

They did far more than that.

When the baton crossed the finish line, the clock stopped at 39.70.

Another state record.

Another meet record.

Only this time, the discussion expanded beyond California.

The 39.70 ranks tied for seventh all-time in U.S. high school history and remains the fastest performance ever produced by a California school.

The state's greatest relay teams were no longer the comparison.

Now the measuring stick became Duncanville.

Atascocita.

Fort Worth Wyatt.

The giants of Texas sprinting.

Servite had entered their neighborhood.

Graph showing servite having most sub 40 performances — No known U.S. high school program has produced more sub-40 performances in a single season than Servite's 2026 squad. | Roland Padilla

Then, almost as an afterthought, the Friars delivered another historic performance.

Their 1:22.76 4x200 relay shattered the California state record and ranks No. 4 all-time nationally.

More remarkably, Servite became the only non-Texas school inside the all-time national top 10.

One weekend.

Two state records.

Two all-time national performances.

And the season wasn't halfway over.

The statistic that changes everything

The strongest argument for Servite's place in history isn't 39.70.

It's five.

Five sub-40 performances.

At first glance, it doesn't sound as impressive as a state record.

It might actually be more impressive.

The greatest relay teams in American history usually produce one magical race.

Sometimes two.

Humble Atascocita's national-record team produced three sub-40s during its historic 2024 season.

Duncanville's loaded 2024 squad produced three.

Servite produced five.

No known high school program has ever produced more.

The list tells the story:

39.82 — Trabuco Hills Invitational

39.70 — Arcadia Invitational

39.98 — Mt. SAC Relays

39.89 — CIF Southern Section Finals

39.73 — CIF State Championships

Long Beach Poly's 40.14 stood as California's all-time best for 27 years.

Servite ran faster than that mark five separate times in one season.

Not five years.

Not across generations.

One spring.

That level of consistency may ultimately become the defining characteristic of the 2026 Friars.

Other teams have reached the summit.

Servite stayed there.

More than a relay

The easiest way to misunderstand Servite is to view them as a great 4x100 team.

They were much more than that.

Their 39.70 gets most of the attention because it broke the state's most famous barrier.

But the broader picture is what separates this group from many historical peers.

The 4x200 relay ran 1:22.76, ranking fourth all-time nationally.

The 4x400 relay clocked 3:07.62, finishing the season ranked No. 3 in the United States.

Very few programs in American history have simultaneously fielded a top-10 all-time 4x100 relay and a top-10 all-time 4x200 relay while also producing one of the nation's best 4x400 relays.

That combination is extraordinarily rare.

Many legendary teams had one great relay.

Servite built an entire sprint machine.

The roster behind the records

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the season was who was producing the times. Brandon Thomas had this to say very candidly about the squad, "They joke around and mess around just like all kids, but they know how to lock in and get to work and meet the moment when it is required and that is evident in their success".

Harris emerged as one of the nation's elite junior sprinters, running 10.14 and 20.51. He ranks 2nd in CA in both short sprints and 12th nationally and 10th in the 200.

Jorden Wells ran 10.28 and 20.76 as a sophomore. Good for 6th in California for both events, 42nd nationally in the 100 and 32nd in the 200.

Jace Wells posted marks of 10.63, 20.69 and 47.01 as a sophomore. Jace ranked 72nd in the state for the 100, 4th in the 200 and 7th in the 400. Nationally he ranks 22nd in the 200 and 50th in the 400.

Pelovello contributed a 10.44 and 20.97 being a mainstay across all relays. He was ranked 28th in CA for the 100 and 16th for the 200. Nationally he was tied for 200th in the 100 and 87th in the 200. He did not have many chances to run the 400 but could have easily been a 47-48 second runner had that been the focus of the season.

Gardner returned late in the year and immediately became a key contributor after running 10.40. He only ran a handful of races all season, but was the anchor for the state winning 4x100 squad. He ranked 21st in the state and 124th in the nation.

Hunter remained in elite form throughout the season finishing with a PR and 2nd place state finish with a 46.05 ranking 8th nationally. He ran the 200 once in February for a time of 21.52 which would be good for 78th in the state. Also, ran a respectable 10.93 that same meet, and was vital to their historical 4x200 and 4x400 relays and even filled in on the 4x100 squad in state prelims, a daunting task for most as he had only ran in one previously (that same meet as the lone 100 and 200s).

Most programs would gladly build around one athlete capable of those marks.

Servite had six.

The depth extended even further.

The team's all-freshman 4x400 relay had already broken national freshman records a year earlier, providing a glimpse of what was coming. By 2026, those freshmen had matured into one of the most accomplished sprint groups California has ever produced.

Where do they rank?

That question will fuel debates for years.

If the discussion begins and ends with the single fastest race ever run, the answer remains Atascocita's 38.92.

No one disputes that.

But greatness is rarely that simple.

Berkeley helped define an era.

Hawthorne set standards that lasted generations.

Long Beach Poly became synonymous with California sprint excellence.

Duncanville and Atascocita raised the national ceiling.

Servite belongs in that conversation.

Not because they own the national record.

Because they assembled one of the most complete sprint résumés the sport has ever seen. National leaders across the three sprint relays.

First California team under 40.

California 4x100 record.

California 4x200 record and 3rd all-time in US history for the 4x400 narrowly missing the state record.

Five sub-40 performances.

Most points scored at a CIF State finals meet, 60. Yes with the new scoring methods there would have been a tie based on the previous 57 point record.

Nationally elite 4x400 relay.

Back-to-back state championships.

A roster loaded with underclassmen.

The fastest relay squad in California history.

The deepest relay season in American history.

The debate over the greatest sprint team ever will continue.

What isn't debatable is this:

No team has ever changed the perception of what was possible in California sprinting more than the 2026 Servite Friars. 4 athletes sub-21 in the same meet in the 200 is insane depth and may be a feat only accomplished by less than a handful schools if any,

And by the time their season ended in Clovis, they weren't chasing history anymore. They ascended it and were the history.

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