KARNS CITY — There was something missing from the Karns City girls 400-meter relay team.

Gremlins’ coach Roger King just couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“It was a rocky start,” King said. “Things just weren’t clicking.”

Then King had an idea. He had seen the quick burst and straight-line speed displayed by sophomore Annie Hegedus on her approach to the triple jump and wondered if that would translate to a relay team that already had junior speedsters Brittany Coyle, Taylor Brown and Breann Wood.

It did.

As soon as King added Hegedus to the mix, things quickly fell into place. After several runs at the school record, the team finally eclipsed the mark with a time of 50.5 seconds at the Redbank Valley Invitational last week.

The Gremlins have the fastest 400 relay time in Butler County and their fastest mark would be good enough to medal at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in Class AA should the Gremlins get there.

“Annie fits right in perfectly with them,” King said. “They are a great group of girls. I can’t say enough about them.”

Hegedus, who runs the third leg, and Wood, who is the anchor, formed a quick bond.

“It was a pretty instant connection between Annie and I,” Wood said. “We just seem to have good synch on our hand-offs.”

Except for the record-setting run at Redbank, when Wood nearly had to stop to grab the baton.

It was a blip that the quartet hopes can be ironed out before the District 9 meet at Kane Friday.

“That’s what we’re working on right now,” King said. “It was not smooth (at Redbank).”

Brown, though, isn’t worried.

“We work on the handoffs every single day at practice,” the junior said. “We’re just looking for that one clean race.”

This may be the last few races Brown will run with her teammates in the 400 relay.

Brown is moving to Florida after the school year.

“It stinks,” said Coyle, also a junior. “We’ll miss her.”

Brown’s departure is serving as just one more nugget of motivation for the team.

They want Brown to go to the sunshine state with a state medal around her neck.

“She’s part of our 4 by 100 family,” Wood said. “We want to send her off with a good final memory.”

Wood has the fastest 100 time among the foursome at 12.7 seconds. She was running the third leg until Hegedus joined the team three weeks into the season.

Since moving to the anchor leg, Wood has brought home a first place for the team in every meet.

“I have trust in my girls,” Wood said. “Seeing them put forth that effort, seeing them give 110 percent pumps me up and makes me want to give the same.”

The goals for the team have changed. They are thinking big.

A sub-50 time is within reach. With smooth handoffs and top-notch competition around them pushing them, a run at a state title is in the back of their minds.

“I just love this team,” Hegedus said. “We just work so hard. When I’m feeling the pressure, they have a way of taking it off of me. We are all so close. I think that helps.”