While most of the region was kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the Fourth of July weekend, rising Priest River senior Teagun Holycross and his teammates from Spokane Speed Academy Track and Field Club punched their tickets to the Sacramento for the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships.

Racing against track clubs from Oregon and Washington, Holycross qualified in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays during the Region 13 Championships, which were held at Mt. Tahoma High School from July 4-7 in Tacoma, Washington.

In the 4x100, Holycross was the third leg of Spokane Speed Academy’s B-squad. Despite being seeded in lane eight, Holycross’s 4x100 team placed fifth with a 43.97, which not only gave the team two 4x100 relays to take to nationals, but also out-performed the quartet’s seed time of 44.27 seconds.

Later in the multi-day meet, Spokane Speed Academy’s 4x400 relay team ­— consisting of Holycross, recent Coeur d’Alene grad Nate Burch, Lake City senior Jake Schnatter and Northwest Christian (Colbert, Washington) senior Will Lane ­— missed first place by .006 seconds, yet still qualified with a 3:24.03.

Holycross also ran the open 100 and 200 meter dashes during the four-day meet. He placed 16th in the 100 with an 11.71, then ran a 23.51 in the 200 ­— .32 seconds off his personal best of 23.19, which he ran at the Timberlake Invitational this past April.

The Priest River star is no stranger to competing at the national club track level. Last year, Holycross ran the 400 meter hurdles at the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships in North Carolina.

This year, the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships will be held July 22-28 at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.