Nail-biting relays, a reversed disqualification, and solid performances all around made the varsity boys’ track and field team’s 85-44 victory over Milpitas High School Thursday all the more thrilling and rewarding.

The win solidified the team’s standing as the best in the De Anza division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, bringing its dual meet record to a perfect 5-0. Lynbrook is the only other team in SCVAL with an undefeated varsity boys’ team, and it competes in the lower El Camino division.

Paly’s victory began with immediate excitement in the 400-meter relay. Though junior first leg Casey Fields and junior second leg Paul Brown barely trailed their respective Milpitas opponents for the first half of the event, the race became even more nerve-wracking when junior third leg Ariel Arsac-Ellison closed further in on the Trojans’ third leg.

“I was thinking, ‘This is going to be really close,'” senior anchor Dom Powell said.

By the time the baton made it to Powell, the Trojans’ lead had disappeared, and Paly and Milpitas were almost even with each other.

“Milpitas was slightly ahead of me when I got the baton,” Powell said. “Then I realized that I was faster than him, so I sped up.”

Both teams’ anchors raced neck-and-neck along the final 100 meter stretch towards the finish line. Powell, however, was able to steadily break away and take the slight yet resounding lead in the end. In a bout of celebration, Powell hurled the team’s baton on the ground, and was immediately called out for an infraction.

“They [officials] said I threw down the baton in a show-off kind of way, and there’s no showing off after the race,” Powell said.

Nonetheless, “they [the officials] changed their ruling right after they called it a DQ [disqualification],” Powell said.

Officials accepted Paly’s 44.97 second completion time, and the win sent the first five points of the meet in Paly’s direction.

The 1600 relay, the last race of the day, also saw its fair share of excitement. By the start of his leg of the event, junior anchor Josh Davis had a sizeable lead over Milpitas. Yet, near the end of the lap, Davis found himself in an all-or-nothing sprint against Milpitas’ anchor for the win.

“It was scary,” Davis said. “When it was my leg, I thought I’d have a big lead. Then that person [Milpitas’ anchor] sprinted ahead of me. I heard cheering from Milpitas and Paly, and I didn’t want to lose. So I was like, I’m just going to push it.”

Like Powell, Davis edged Milpitas’ runner for first place in the last stretch of the event, giving his relay a final time of 3 minutes, 39.26 seconds.

The varsity boys ended up claiming the top spot in all but three of the non-relay events. The Vikings swept the 1600-meter run, with sophomore Henry Jordan in first at 4:43.8, and seniors Sam Jones and Brian Karvelas in second and third at 4:46.1 and 4:48.8 respectively.

Jordan ran a personal best again this week, shaving about three seconds off of his previous personal best 1600 time. He attributes the accomplishment to his dedication to the sport.

“I love track, I love the people,” Jordan said. “I just come out, I just want to run, and that just motivates me.”

In the 110 hurdles, junior Pascal Truninger and senior Mohammed Abid claimed first and second respectively in 16.57 and 17.00. The two switched ranks in the 300 hurdles, with Abid finishing first and Truninger second.

Paly saw another swap between two athletes’ ranks in the jumping events; senior Mike Scott finished first in the long jump at 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches and Powell took second at 20-3 ¼, while Powell claimed first in the high jump at 6-2 and Scott took a second place 5-10.

Paly’s frosh/soph boys also emerged from the dual meet against Milpitas with a win, 65-62.

Though Paly’s frosh/soph boys dominated the distance events, claiming the top three spots in both the 1600 and 3200, Milpitas still stayed level in terms of points with Paly, until the two were tied, 59-59, near the end of the meet. The Vikings needed nothing less than first place in the only remaining event, the long jump, in order to come out victorious, and the responsibility to lead the team to the win came down to freshman jumper Michael Hueschen.

Despite the pressure, Hueschen maintained a confident mindset throughout his performance.

“I knew I could get it,” Hueschen said. “I changed my jumping style. It helped.”

Hueschen said he adjusted both his jumping and landing technique, and the modifications paid off: he claimed the needed first place in the event with a jump of 18-4 1/2, ultimately swinging the overall win towards Paly’s frosh/soph boys.

“I felt good, I felt relieved,” Hueschen said after his jump.

Their Thursday wins make both the varsity and frosh/soph teams undefeated in the league, with identical 5-0 records.

Both Viking teams now look toward their final dual meet against Los Altos to continue their winning streaks and complete perfect seasons. In order to do so, Brown, who also claimed first in both the 100 and 200 at 10.89 and 23.29 respectively, believes Paly simply has to continue on its current path.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and stay focused,” Brown said.

Paly’s track and field team will face off in the last dual meet of its season against the Los Altos Eagles 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 24 at Los Altos High School.