The athletes of the Nansemond River High School girls’ outdoor track and field team have achieved one unprecedented success after another this season, all the way through states.

They found a way to add another to their collection at this weekend’s 2014 New Balance Nationals Outdoor event in Greensboro, N.C.

Senior Mia McClain, sophomore Brandeé Johnson, junior Candice James and junior Kara Lyles raced in the 800-meter sprint medley to claim their school’s first outdoor track national championship.

Lady Warriors coach Justin Byron had a specific strategy entering the national meet.

“Knowing we had such a long season, we wanted to have fun,” he said. “Obviously, they still ran hard, they still ran fast, and they did exceed my expectations.”

The winning time for the national champs was 1:43.15, the fastest in Virginia in the last decade and a Nansemond River record.

Overall at the meet, the Nansemond River girls earned 13 individual All-American honors by virtue of placing among the top six in championship division events. They set four school records and also one state record.

Byron highlighted how McClain became a national champion in her final event as a high school track athlete.

Commenting on her achievement, McClain said, “It feels awesome. I don’t even know how to describe it because it’s always been a dream of mine.”

Since the state championships on June 6-7, McClain has completed a move with her family to Louisiana. She rejoined her team in North Carolina on Friday, having gone without practice all week.

Because of this, she was worried about how she would perform, but said, “I prayed before I went on the track,” adding that she had confidence in her teammates and said, “I was confident when I walked out.”

McClain and the same three girls ran in the 1,000-meter sprint medley Swedish relay, placing third with a time of 2:10.05, a school record and overall state record.

Byron said this was probably the team’s most impressive run because NR was not pushed by an opponent in its heat, yet still barely lost to the national champions from New Jersey (2:09.95).

He also praised the 4×100-meter shuttle hurdle team, including junior Zakiya Rashid, along with Johnson, Lyles and McClain. They finished in third with a time of 58.65 seconds, despite struggling with hurdles all year.

“They really over-achieved,” Byron said, estimating they averaged 14.7 seconds per leg. “None of the girls have run under 14.8 in the open and only one of them — it was Brandeé — has run under 15 seconds at all.”

Johnson took eighth in the preliminary round for the 200-meter dash, improving to fifth (23.83 seconds) in the final while running in the most interior lane, which features the sharpest turns and shortest straightaways.

Rashid won the shot put in the emerging elite division, which is only one step below the division featuring the nation’s best. She broke the Nansemond River record with her 44-foot-9.5-inch throw.