Penn Relays PA Central: Lewis 3rd in 400H! Cheltenham 5th in 4x4! Pennsbury boys 4th in 4x8!

PA 2015 Outdoor Weekly

Press Release PennTrackXC.com

Apr 25, 2015

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Friday PA Highlights

Thursday PA Highlights

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Penn Relays Day Three Recap on MileSplit

Penn Relays Day Two Recap on MileSplit

Penn Relays Day One Recap on MileSplit

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Saturday

John Lewis of Cheltenham finished 3rd and was the 2nd American finisher in the 400 meter hurdles with a US#2 time of 52.46. Dave Marrington of Neshaminy finished close behind in 4th place with a US#3 time of 52.96.

Later, Lewis (47.15) anchored his Cheltenham team of Cordell Richardson (50.11), Christian Brissett (48.89), and Kyle Davis (49.73) to a place in the Championship of America final, winning the Suburban American 4x4 in 3:15.86! They knocked off Jamaican powerhouse St. Jago to earn this opportunity!

In that Championship of America race, they finish 5th for the 2nd time in 5 years with a time of 3:15.39 with splits of 50.3, 48.3, 49.74, and 47.00.

Central Dauphin East ran the 2nd best time from the PA contingent with a time of 3:18.27. The team of Luke Everidge (50.99), Evan Pierce (50.32), Aaron Arp (49.77) and Charles Bowman Jr (47.20) held the top time of the day for a few moments.

In the Philadelphia Area races, Penn Wood got themselves back on track with a huge 47.44 split from Ndiaga Seck to bring home the victory in 3:19.58. Ahmere Ponzo (51.66), Charlie Wells (49.77), and Dennis Manyeah (50.66) contributed to the win with Seck.

In the girls Philadelphia Area race, we had a breakthrough performance from Neumann Goretti shock Cheltenham, winning the race 3:47.39 to 3:47.67. The team of Amirah Coleman (57.75), Eliza Brooks (57.66), Arianna Ruffin (56.79) and Sydni Townsend (55.30) pulled off the victory!

In the boys 4x800 meter relay Championship of America, Pennsbury finished 4th and as the 2nd American team with a state leading and US#5 time of 7:45.42 with the team of Eric Kersten (1:58.81), Alek Sauer (1:51.98), Sam Webb (1:54.12) and Zach Yeger (2:00.52). Central Bucks West finished 7th in 7:49.94.

In the field events, Chris Stone of Springfield Montco finished in a tie for 6th with a season best clearance of 6-7.75. Ryan Wilkes of Valley View finished 5th with a clearance of 14-9.

After long jumping 23-8 last night, Isaiah Brooks of Woodland Hills finished 5th and was the 2nd American finisher with a mark of 23-0.50.

In the triple jump, Isa Paschall of Carlisle finished 9th with a jump of 46-5.50.

In the 4x100 meter relays, Cheltenham girls improves their state lead in 46.60 to Pennsbury's 46.96 to set a new Penn Relays Tri-State Championship meet record!

In the boys 4x100 meter relay large school race, Cheltenham finished 2nd in 41.44, while Upper Darby finished 4th in 41.79. Both are the top two times in the state this season!

Friday

Jordan Geist of Knoch travelled across the state with an entourage of 25 friends and family to get another crack at victory in a big meet. With the crowd behind him, Geist got the big win he has been searching for!

After a game of 'top this' during warm ups against his competitors, Geist fouled his first attempt. With the pressure on to get a mark, Geist pulled off a monster throw that sent a roar through the crowd. The mark read 67-1.25, a personal best by one foot from his win last week. That mark was enough to secure his first major victory at a national caliber meet!

Geist wasn't the only PA thrower to have a big day!

Michael Biddle of Williamsburg made it two weeks in a row of 200 foot plus throws in the javelin. After throwing 198 feet in the rounds, Biddle had a big 5th throw, reaching 200-1 to finish 2nd. Because the winner was from the Bahamas, Biddle earned the honor of top American!

Nick Solfanelli of Scranton Prep made his season debut and got off to a nice start with a throw of 197-5. Unfortunately for the 215 foot thrower, he tweaked his back on his first throw and passed on his remaining attempts. Matt Reinhart of Bethlehem Catholic finished 5th with a mark of 189-4.

David Lucas of Warwick had a career day and his most consistent day in the discus. The senior had three throws over 190 feet, including two personal best marks in his first three throws. He finished the day in 2nd place with a US#2 mark of 199-7!

On the track, the boys 4x800 meter relay will have three PA teams in the Championship of America final! Pennsbury had the fastest time out of the PA teams thanks to a 1:54.13 2nd leg split from Alek Sauer to run a state leading 7:54.98. Central Bucks East ran 7:56.52 to finish 3rd in the same heat Pennsbury won, while a big 1:56.87 anchor leg from Rock Fortna gave Central Bucks West a berth into the finals with a time of 7:59.31!

In the boys 4x100 meter relay, Cheltenham put themselves into the PA#2 spot with the fastest time on the day in 42.47. Upper Darby ran 43.10 to record the 2nd fastest time and both teams will compete in the Large School final tomorrow afternoon! Penncrest had the fastest small school time for PA with a 43.57.

Jake Brophy of Central Bucks East was the top PA runner in the 3000 meter run with a time of 8:29.12, just ahead of Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham in 4th (8:34.68). Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy finished 4th in the mile with a time of 4:09.94. St Joseph's Prep finished 9th in the distance medley with a time of 10:25.93.

In the girls races, Great Valley was the top PA team out of five in the 4x800 meter relay championship of America with a new state leading time of 9:14.81! Unionville finished 6th in 9:19.39. North Penn was 8th, Pennsbury finished 10th, and Wilson (3) finished 12th.

North Penn ran a second Championship of America race, finishing 7th in the final and improving their state leading time for the 3rd consecutive time in 3:52.06. The team of Uche Nwogwugwu (56.7), Leiana Dean (57.9), Mikaela Vlasic (59.77), and Allison King (57.66) represented the team for their special Championship of America appearance.

In the large school 4x100 meter relay, Cheltenham finished 2nd and took the state lead back from Susquehanna Township with a time of 47.21! Pennsbury was 5th in 48.06 with Norristown right behind them in 48.22. Former state leaders Susquehanna Township ran 47.90 to finish 3rd in the small school race.

Thursday

It's cold, it's windy, and it doesn't feel like spring once again. But the heat was brought right from the start of the 121^st Penn Relays by one of PA's best sprinters!

Brooklynn Broadwater of Springside Chestnut Hill ran an aggressive first half of the high school girls 400 meter hurdles championship and was rewarded for her efforts with the gold watch and a T-US#1 time of 1:00.69 to upset Jamaican Junelle Bromfield of St Elizabeth Tech! Broadwater's time is the 3^rd fastest time by a PA athlete since 2004!

Markeeta Thomas of Paul Robeson also flew out of the gates in the 400 meter hurdles, but a stutter on the 9^th hurdle slowed down her momentum, but recovered to finish 5^th in 1:01.71, the 5^th best time by a PA athlete since 2004. Ciara Leonard of Cheltenham finished 10^th in 1:03.91.

In the 4x800 meter relay, PA teams made up for nearly half of the 12 qualifying teams for tomorrow's Championship of America race!

Unionville ran in the 1^st 4x800 meter relay race and finished 2^nd in their heat with a NEW state leading and US#12 time of 9:18.57! Gretchen Mills (2:20.90), Kacie Breeding (2:18.57), Cami Rickenback (2:23.75) and Anna Juul (2:15.36) were on the team!

North Penn recorded the 2^nd fastest time on the day, winning their large school heat in 9:22.20, with the team of Stephanie Brasadola (2:23.14), Ali Valenti (2:17.36), Mikaela Vlasic (2:23.02), and Phoebe Closer (2:18.68) leading the way for the former state leaders. Great Valley qualified for a return trip to the Championship of America race with a PA#3 9:20.39 with Elise Claffey (2:18.05), Anna Willig (2:19.31), Tabitha Wismer (2:22.73), and Crosby Spiess (2:20.32) getting the job done. Wilson ran PA#4 9:24.69 and Pennsbury took the last qualifying spot with a time of 9:26.68, with Olivia Sargent's 2:16.61 boosting the Falcons to the final!

The fastest split on the day went to Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends, who ran 2:11.24 on their anchor leg

In the 4x100 meter relay, Cheltenham recorded the fastest time for the PA squads, winning their head in 48.10 to finish 4^th in the Large School sections! Pennsbury was 6^th in 48.40, while Norristown was 7^th in 48.43 and Harrisburg was 11^th in 48.97. Those four teams qualified for tomorrow's 4x100 meter relay Large School Championship race! Susquehanna Township qualified for the 4x1 Small School Championship race with a time of 48.55 to finish 8^th.

In the afternoon session, Cyre Virgo of Fleetwood won her 2^nd Penn Relays championship and 3^rd gold watch with a US#4 5-11.50! Abby Jones of Franklin Area finished 3^rd with a clearance of 5-7.25.

Tesia Kempski of Bishop McDevitt and Megan Fry of State College became the first girls in PA to break the 12 foot mark with clearances of 12-3.50 to share the state lead!

We had two top ten finishes in the jumps as Uchechi Onuoha of Pennsbury finished 9^th in the triple jump with a mark of 37-11.50 and Ariana Przybylowski of Pennridge finished 10^th in the long jump with a mark of 17-9.

In the throws, Madison Wiltrout of Connellsville shattered the state record in the javelin! The sophomore finished 2^nd with a mark of 168-5, the 2^nd best mark at the Penn Relays! The mark also breaks the state record of 167-2 set by Allison Updike of Tamaqua and Fawn Miller of Fort Cherry!

Steph Sievers of Daniel Boone finished 4^th with a throw 149-9, and Maura Fiamoncini of Mount Carmel threw 147-3 to finish 5^th. Emily Stauffer of Cocalico finished 5^th in the shot put with a throw of 46-0.50.

On the track, North Penn qualified for the 4x400 meter relay Championship of America with an improved PA#1 time of 3:52.10! They are one of three American teams to make the COA final! The team of Uche Nwogwugwu (57.31), Leiana Dean (57.45), Mikaela Vlasic (59.36), Allison King (58.00) were the members of that historic squad.

Susquehanna Township moved up to PA#3 in the 4x4 with a time of 3:57.21 ahead of Cheltenham's 3:57.41. Paul Robeson won the Philadelphia Public League race in a PA#6 3:57.90, while Gwynedd-Mercy Academy dominated the Philadelphia Academic race in a PA#7 3:58.14. Central Bucks South made the state top ten with a PA#10 3:59.34.

In the mile, Marissa Sheva of Pennridge finished 3^rd in the mile with a time of 4:58.10, while Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury finished 5^th in 5:04.89.

Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley finished 8^th in the 3000 meter run with a time of 9:56.58. Cardinal O'Hara finished 10^th in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:20.55.

Pennsylvania Elite Performances