Photo by: Jackson Polin
In the Championship of America Distance Medley Relay, we saw 4 schools from Pennsylvania. Although Pennsylvania did not have the most teams in the field, they proved to have the best teams in the field when all 4 of the squads finished in the top 5.
To no surprise, Mifflin County of district 6 came out on top with a 4:05 anchor leg from Carter Smith to bring his team from 5th to 1st. The team's 800 leg, Wyatt Kauffman, was equally valuable with his 1:53 split (the fastest 800 split of any team) to bring the team from 9th to 5th and put them back in touch with the lead pack. This team was the clear favorite with a national championship under its belt from just 2 months ago at New Balance Nationals Indoor. As well, Smith was the championship of the mile at New Balance Nationals Outdoor last spring.
Carter Smith did not run away with it until the last minute of the race. For almost the entire anchor leg, the race was up for grabs between Mifflin County, Lower Merion, Christian Brother Academy, North Penn, and La Salle College. What seemed like a sit-and-kick race turned out to be some fast times on the anchors with them all coming through in 4:10 or faster. Alex Mazzeo of Lower Merion was leading the pack for most of the anchor leg until a chaotic bell lap with a physical battle between the 5 teams.
Photo by: Jackson Polin
In the Championship of America Distance Medley Relay, we saw 4 schools from Pennsylvania. Although Pennsylvania did not have the most teams in the field, they proved to have the best teams in the field when all 4 of the squads finished in the top 5.