* The JP McCaskey girls in the 4x400 relay
Photo Credit: Ryan Comstock
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On Friday night, a slew of Pennsylvania teams toed the line for the girls 4x400m relay at the Garden State Invitational.
But it was Lancaster J.P. McCaskey, leading wire-to-wire, that controlled the race and brought the team home for a PA No. 13 all-time performance of 3:53.92. The effort is currently ranked U.S. No. 6.
Kamiah Wright opened with a 58.23 to gap McCaskey from the rest of the field.
Consecutive 59-split legs from Lucie De Syon and Isabella Shertzer set up Kamyah Wright for a 57.11 anchor.
Haverford Township also ran a PA No. 2 in the race, placing third in 4:00.56.
The 3:53.92 run by McCaskey is the fastest time since 2019, when a Neumann Goretti squad ran 3:45.01 at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
That mark by Neumann Goretti is now the second-fastest effort of all-time.
With the result, J.P. McCaskey solidifies itself as the favorites heading into the PTFCA Indoor 4x400m championship next week.
If the girls team can replicate this performance or improve on it, perhaps we could see something even greater.
Haverford Township currently controls the No. 2 rank in PA, but it remains nearly seven seconds behind McCaskey.
The race plan for McCaskey should be to open hard.
Few teams will be able to replicate back-to-back sub-60 quarters. From there, McCaskey can control the race from the front.