DeKALB – Jaylen Mason crossed the finish line and belted out a scream that could be heard throughout DeKalb's track and field complex.
Moments later, he was mobbed my his teammates, including relay partners Tristan Bujarski, Lacey Donovan and Jaylen Hobson. The group finished first in the 4x100 meter relay Friday at the DeKalb Holt Invite with a state qualifying time of 42.41, also a season best for the team.
"I was just hoping we could stay up there with Yorkville, if not beat them," Hobson said of the Foxes, which owned the second fastest 4x100 relay time in Class 3A entering Friday's meet. "They've been ahead of us all year. But (Friday) was about us. Our teamwork was amazing and we got a state time today."
The 4x100 relay team was one of DeKalb's best performances, as the Barbs placed third with a total of 110 points, behind Yorkville (135) and Moline (111).
DeKalb's 4x800 relay team finished ahead of Moline (42.53), Rockford East (42.75) and Yorkville (43.44). The Barbs finished under the Class 3A state qualifying time of 42.70. They'll need a repeat performance on May 18 at sectionals at Huntley High School in order to qualify for state.
"It makes us feel really confident," Hobson said. "We know we can win with anyone we race against. We want to keep this time and get even faster."
"We did some really good things," DeKalb boys track and field coach Tim Holt said. "The 4x100 team ran their best time by far. Our other relays improved their times and we had nice finishes across the board.
"I'm not disappointed in them. (We) did a great job."
The Barbs have plenty of areas to work on. Their 4x800 team of Juan Castro, Jang Yoon, Luke Andrews and Mario Montoya took third at 8:07.38. The group struggled in-between its second and third legs when Andrews dropped the handoff from Yoon.
DeKalb's 4x200 relay team of Bujarski, Hobson, Mason and Christopher Grays also finished third with a time of 1:32.56.
"There's a lot of room for improvement," Bujarski said. "But I think we're ready (to compete for state). I felt our handoffs could've been even better and we could've had a way better time. As a team, we need to work on our top end speed more. Our starts are fast but we have to keep them."
Other top DeKalb finishers included Aidan Donohue and Ben Allen, who took first and third, respectively, in the 800. Aiden Powers earned the Barbs another 10 points with finishing first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.16. Tremaine Thomas finished second in long jump at 21-feet, while Hobson took fifth at 19-5. Thomas also took second in the triple jump with a leap of 43-1.
Riley Marks and Emmanuel Yepiz led the way in distance, claiming first and second in the 3,200. Yepiz led a majority of the race, but Marks took the lead during the final lap and finished with a time of 9:44.20, ahead of Yepiz' 9:53.99. Friday was the first time Marks participated in the event this season.
"It was really exciting because I went in somewhat with a lack of confidence," said Marks, who typically competes in the 4x800 and the mile. "This puts things into perspective of how short those races are. I'm happy with my time because I cleared 10 minutes for the first time in my career. When you're pushing yourself through pain for 10 minutes, it should be no problem when you're running a race in 4.5 minutes."
By the numbers: Yorkville finished in first place with a combined team score of 135 points. Moline (111) finished second and the Barbs (110) third. McHenry (91), Rockford East (41), Rockford Auburn (30), Illinois Math and Science Academy (23) and Guilford (14) rounded out the eight-team field.
Beyond the stats: Friday's Tim Holt Invite was supposed to be a nine-team meet, however, only eight teams competed after Jefferson decided not to attend.
They said it: "We need to fine tune our handoffs," DeKalb coach Tim Holt said. "We'll change some other things up too. We could've won the 4x800, there is no question in my mind we could've won that. But we spread our guys out in a different fashion. Next week...we're going to score some more points. We know what we can do and we want to peak at sectionals."
Up next: DeKalb boys track and field competes at the Northern Illinois Big 12 conference meet at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Yorkville High School.