The Butler boys came from western PA to the east and walked away with a state-leading time in the 4x400 meter relay, completing a solid weekend for the Golden Tornado at the Penn Relays.
Butler went 3:18.43 for a new PA No. 1, placing sixth in their loaded 4x4 heat on Saturday morning at Franklin Field.
In a very fast heat that included powerful Jamaican squads Excelsior and St. Jago, Butler opted to deviate from its normal order in the relay, putting top leg Guinness Brown on the leadoff leg. That strategy paid off as Brown split a FAT 48.81 to handoff in second place.
The rest of the Butler relay held strong with splits of 50.54, 50.04, and an anchor leg split of 49.05 to pull the Golden Tornado up to sixth. Excelsior won the heat in 3:12.55 and St. Jago was second in 3:13.10. Both of those teams made the Championship of America, with St. Jago flipping the script on Excelsior to take third in 3:12.09 to Excelsior's fourth place time of 3:12.83. Kingston College won the CoA in 3:09.52.
Butler wound up with the 17th fastest 4x4 time of the meet. They were one of two PA teams to sub sub-3:20 on the day. Coatesville ran a PA No. 2 time of 3:19.22. Cumberland Valley went 3:20.82 at Penn for a new PA No. 3. The nine fastest times so far this season in PA came during Saturday at the Penn Relays.
Watch the video from Butler's section (Race 531) of the 4x400 meter relay from the Penn Relays above.
