Boys' 4x200m Relay Preview
Upper Darby will be the team to beat in the 4x200 meter relay on Saturday. The Royals have been impressive all season, running a flat track 1:30.96 and then following that up a few weeks ago with the season's lone sub-1:30, a 1:29.51 (PA No. 1).
The Philadelphia Public League Invite at the Armory provided a good glimpse of what we could see on Sunday. Upper Darby claimed the win over a number of the Royals' top challengers. PA No. 2 Norristown was second. The Eagles ran a season best of 1:30.03 to win the Ocean Breeze Invite. Expect Norristown to be right up there, competing for the victory.
Penn Wood, J.P. McCaskey, and Coatesville all ran season bests at that Philly Public League Invite to take third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. In many ways, Sunday will be a rematch of that race, with a few other contenders thrown into the mix. PW, McCaskey, and Coatesville will all be in the second fastest heat along with Pennridge and that should make things interesting as these squads compete for fast times.
Among those contenders is the No. 2 seed for the meet, Saint Joseph's Prep, which ran a strong 1:31.62 on Lehigh's flat track to win the PCL title a few weeks back. Prep has a good crop of strong sprinters and it should put them right in the conversation for a high finish. Pittsburgh Central Catholic is another strong team to watch out for. They ran a PA No. 3 time of 1:30.44 at Youngstown State a few weeks back, and should contend for the win out of the fastest heat.
The defending state champions from Central Dauphin East can't be counted out, either. They will be in the second heat, looking to drop a fast time in what they hope is some clean air.
The fireworks have a tendency to come out in the 4x200, and this year looks like it could be another year where we get a thriller duel for the state title.
Event 18 Boys 4x200 Meter Relay ============================================================ =================== Meet Record: 1:28.49 3/2/2002 Glen Mills, Glen Mills Alexander, Craig, Bishop, Jones 1:33.57 SGQ State Guideline School ============================== ============================== =================== 1 Bensalem 2 Butler 3 Central Dauphin East (Cd East) 4 Chambersburg 5 Coatesville 6 Harrisburg High School 7 Haverford Township HS 8 J.P. McCaskey 9 Norristown 10 North Penn 11 Penn Wood 12 Pennridge 13 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 14 Saint Joseph's Prep 15 Seneca Valley 16 The Haverford School for Boys 17 The Promise Academy @ West Phi 18 Upper Darby 19 West Chester Henderson 20 Wissahickon