PORTLAND, Ore. -- On paper, the 1,500-meter PRs of four South Eugene runners added up to a promising total. 

But it took Friday's effort at the Portland Track Festival to make the national record in the seldom-run relay come to life for Erin Clark, Phacelia Cramer, Paige Kouba and Sara Tsai. 

The quartet ran uncontested and shaved 10 seconds off the 30-year-old national record and clocked 18 minutes, 42.33 seconds. 

Clark (4:31.3), Cramer (4:54.6), Kouba (4:37.4) and Tsai (4:38.8) took down the 1982 record of University (Irvine, Calif.), which was led by all-time mile record holder Polly Plumer.