Rams 4 x 400 breaks school record at Penn Relays

For the more than 48,000 fans who packed historic Franklin Field on Saturday, the 117^th running of the Penn Relays provided thrills, chills and record performances as it has for generations.

A host of Olympic medalists, including USA track legend Carl Lewis in the infield, and Bill Cosby announcing the start of races contributed to the atmosphere as the start of the Philadelphia area high school girls championship crept closer.

For a quartet of young ladies from Spring-Ford High School, April 30, 2011 will be forever etched in their memory as the day that they set a new school record in a 4 x 400 meter relay with a time of 3:57.45.

As Rams lead off runner Mikaila White got herself set in the blocks, the USA Olympic relay team of Quentin Summers, Jamal Torrence, Bershawn Jackson and Angelo Taylor, which had used the very same starting lane, were still taking their victory lap as they had won the 4 x 400 "USA versus the World" event.

White set the pace early as she battled Abington’s Nicole Gratsly around the third turn to move into third place overall as she approached the handoff to Deirdre Magolon.

“This is crazy to see all of these people,” said Magolon. “After missing the record by a second on Thursday, we wanted this so bad. To have more than 40,000 people cheering is so intense. Are we really here? Oh my God, I can’t believe we did this.”

White’s split time of 59.22 put the Rams in position to make their run into Spring-Ford history and after the clean exchange to Magolon the race was on.

“It was so hard to actually hear the starting gun with the crowd cheering for the USA guys,” said White. “I just wanted to get off to a good start and we knew we could do it.”

Nikki Lynch, who passed four runners on Thursday to put the Rams in position to win the Suburban A championship, took the exchange for Magolon and had to fight her way through traffic that rivaled the morning commute on the Blue Route. By the third turn, Lynch had managed to climb to second place as the critical final handoff of the baton was about to ensue.

“I can’t believe this,” said Lynch. “We had confidence in each other and after Thursday we all wanted this so bad. To actually do it is surreal. This has been an amazing experience, to watch the Olympic ladies earlier and to take the track right after the USA guys is something I will never forget.”

Anchor runner Amber Muhammad, whose time of 57.99 was fast enough to beat the previous best time of 3:58.9 and put the foursome in the record book for the Rams, fought off a late charge from Rheanne Paul of Strath Haven and Adrienne Tingba from Christiana, Delaware.

“This is unbelievable,” said Muhammad. “I just focused on getting the handoff from Nikki. After that I just put it all out there and ran as hard as I could. This is such an amazing environment to run in. We have had so much fun here. I just can’t describe what this means right now, but it’s huge.”

“This has been awesome,” added Lynch. “To be here Thursday and win the race and then get to come back to compete today is such an honor, We will never forget this experience and can’t wait to run in districts and hopefully states.”  

Results

PL

School/Affiliation

Mark

Athletes

ID

1

Abington  (Abington, PA)

3:47.16

Nicole Grasty (57.75), Rachel Strothers (58.19), Leah Nugent (55.84), Jordan Matthews (55.39)

A

2

Delsea Regional  (Franklinville, NJ)

3:54.74

Felicia O'donnell (1:01.46), Ashley Woodards (57.84), Lateaque Jackson (59.44), Brianna Crofton (56.02)

E

3

Central Bucks West  (Doylestown, PA)

3:54.89

Lizanne Furst (1:00.53), Jamila Branch (57.76), Alex Gervais (58.73), Sherry Ben-Joseph (57.88)

C

4

West Catholic  (Philadelphia, PA)

3:55.74

Caela Williams (1:02.94), Jada Steward (59.36), Mia Hicks (57.90), Michelle Davis (55.55)

B

5

Coatesville  (Coatesville, PA)

3:56.56

Kenya Woodall (55.93), Deborah Douglas (59.02), Kelly Boulder (1:00.19), Jasmine Sampson (1:01.44)

G

6

Winslow  (Atco, NJ)

3:57.35

Brittany McClain (1:00.12), Jaleela Bey (1:00.66), DeAnn Cross (59.27), Ste'yce McNeil (57.31)

D

7

Spring-Ford  (Royersford, PA)

3:57.45

Mikaila White (59.22), Deirdre Magolon (1:00.34), Nikki Lynch (59.92), Amber Muhammad (57.99)

H

8

Strath Haven  (Wallingford, PA)

4:00.14

Val Wilson (1:00.29), Katie Balmer (59.74), Megan O'Dell (59.95), Rheanne Pahl (1:00.17)

I

9

Christiana  (Newark, DE)

4:01.10

Kenny Akojie (59.34), Taino Akojie (1:00.90), Keyairra Boyce (1:00.52), Adrienne Tingba (1:00.36)

K

10

St. Basil Academy  (Fox Chase Manor, PA)

4:01.59

Alexa Keehfuss (1:01.04), Katie Cassidy (59.88), Regina Wilson (1:00.39), Gina Vanore (1:00.29)

J

11

Paul Robeson  (Philadelphia, PA)

4:03.76

Braxton Spriggs (1:01.37), Shali Muhammad (59.59), Merceded Johnson (1:01.46), Kevia Delorme (1:01.35)

L

12

Upper Darby  (Upper Darby, PA)

4:05.11

Sharmaine Burke (1:01.00), Georgia Mason (59.82), Shakiya Jacobs (1:06.92), Lynnese Beyan (57.39)

F