CHARLOTTESVILE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Charlottesville High School left its mark on the track & field world earlier this month, sending seniors Sam Palmer and Elaina Pierce to the historic Millrose Games in New York City from Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

The Millrose Games are one of the most premier track & field events in the world, bringing together the best professional runners in the world along with the top high schoolers. Both Black Knights impressed in their respective high school miles, with Palmer finishing sixth out of 14 runners and Pierce out of seventh out of 14.

Not only was this the first year the Black Knights sent a runner to the event, but CHS was also the only school to have two runners in the event this year, a feat head track & field coach and Elaina’s mother Erika Pierce called “just unheard of.”

“To be on that stage in track & field and have two runners from the same high school is really something special,” she told Cville Right Now.

CHS sending two runners was an unexpected surprise for the track & field program. Palmer was the first runner to receive an invitation for the games, which he had been preparing for since January of last year. The two main ways for high school athletes to qualify are by being ranked high enough nationally to be invited or automatically qualifying by winning an invitational race at The Armory, the home of the Millrose Games.

Palmer went with the latter, winning the mile run at one of The Armory’s invitationals and, despite learning later that particular invitation was not on of the two races that granted an automatic qualifier, earning an invite in the Millrose Games with a fast enough time.

“When it happened, I just felt this like wave of relief,” Palmer told Cville Right Now about when he finally received his invitation, “just like, ‘Wow, I did that.'”

With Palmer’s ticket already punched, Pierce’s path to the Millrose Games was much less straightforward. But after winning the mile by multiple seconds at the Virginia Showcase, one of the top high school indoor track meets nationwide, she received a last-minute invite to the Millrose Games days before after a spot opened up.

“I was actually entered in a different meet,” she said, “and once this came, I was like, ‘Yeah, I definitely want to do that. This is like a once in a lifetime experience.'”

The event lived up to the hype for both of the high schoolers. Pierce’s mother is not only her track coach now but is a former professional who ran for UVA in college and at the Olympic trials in 1996. As such, Elaina, who is committed to run at UVA next year as well along with Palmer, grew up watching the Millrose Games on TV every year with her family. She said being there amongst so many top athletes was “a super cool experience.”

“I was just walking around and seeing pro athletes, which is so amazing,” she said, “and going into the meet, I just was expecting to soak it all in and have fun, and that’s what I did.”

Palmer echoed Pierce in his recollection.

“You’re standing next to Olympic champions and Olympic record holders and world record holders,” he said, “and it’s really something cool.”

But even amongst the spectacle of the event, Palmer and Pierce shined, with each of their top-half finishes putting them in the top 20 nationally for the mile, with Pierce cracking the top 10. Their coach said having them on the team has given the program “a huge jolt” that will last even after they graduate in the spring.

“We have so many kids in the pipeline now,” she said. “They see what kids can achieve and they see the hard work these put in, that Elaina and Sam put in on a day-to-day basis, and they realize it’s not so out of their own reach. If they work really hard and they do the right things, that’s a possibility.”