USA runner Natash Hastings was just one of many great USA and world Olympians to compete at the 118th Penn Relays
Red Raiders represent their school proudly at 1118th Penn Relays By Dave Conard SportsEditor, CoatesvilleTimes.com
PHILADELPHIA—In the 118 years of the Penn Relays there have been some very interesting Saturday moments and this year was no exception.
In 2010 the “fastest man on earth” Usain Bolt et a new single leg record as he carried the baton across the finish line in the final segment of the Jamaican team that set a new Penn Relays record.
In 2009, six former USA gold medallists including Bruce Jenner were on hand as a sea of green, yellow and black enveloped historic Franklin Field a USA Olympian Justin Gatlin blistered the field in his 4 x 100 leg for USA Blue.
Coatesville's Isiah Flamer gets out to a strong start at the Penn Relays
On Saturday, the Red Raiders had a marked presence at the one of a kind carnival, as the Prime minister of Jamaica, Philadelphia legend Bill Cosby and the very best Olympic hopefuls from d the globe shared the same track with the Coatesville runners.
In one of the day’s first events, Red Raiders Aaron Willett completed the 400 hurdles in a time of 53.88, which placed second in his heat, putting him in the top ten in the elite field from all across the nation.
With more than 49,000 rabid track and field fans in attendance on Saturday, which helped the Penn Relays eclipsed the 100,000 mark again in attendance for the 15th straight year, the Coatesville girl’s stepped onto the track to battle for the title of Tri-State area champion along with teams from Pennridge and Central Dauphin East.
Zhane Williams, Layanna Austin, Kenya Woodall and Helen Adams did the red and black proud as they battled early for the lead thanks to a great start from sophomore Zhane Williams en route to a time 48.68 which was good enough to snag fifth place over all.
“This was amazing,” said senior Layanna Austin in Penn Relays swan song. “I will always remember this, I am going to cheer my girl on in the 4 x 400, but to finish here and be on the same track with all of the USA Olympic athletes and hear 50,000 people cheering as we raced is something I’ll forget.”
One person who will be back is Williams, who performed like a veteran and did not allow the intense pressure get to her.
Coatesville sophomore Zhane Williams busted out of the gates in the Penn Relays giving her Red Raiders teammates a chance to win.r
“I wasn’t nervous,” said Williams. “It is so exciting being back here today, I was focused on hearing the gun and making sure I got Layanna the baton as quick as I could, This is awesome.”
On the boy’s side of the docket, the 4 x 400 team of Kevin Smith, Keon Thompson, Rahshon Rokins and Aaron Willett battled through a great field of opponents from the Ches-Mont league in their heat finishing second with a time of 3:24.40 which was just off the pace set by heat winner Great Valley 3:23.21.
The run was fast enough to garner first alternate honors in the Philadelphia Area 4 x 400 meter championship race, held later in the afternoon.
Following the USA vs the world events in which the United States claimed a 6-0 victory in all of the Olympic development events.
The last had not been heard from Coatesville yet, as the ladies 4 x400 group of Mel Holl, Jasmine Sampson, Helen Adams and Kenya Woodall posted a time of 3:56.55, after holding an early lead and carrying second place most of the race until being passed in the final circuit by eventual winner Central Bucks West Jamila Branch and Pennsbury’s Zakiyyah Richardson, who fought each other back and forth to the line.
Next up for the Red Raiders is the competition of the regular season then an assault on the district and state record books.
“We are not even close to being done,” added Austin. “We have districts and states to get ready for and I am very excited about what we can do together, but this Penn Relays experience will always be high on my lit of highlights.”
USA sprinter Ryan Bailey and his 4 x 100 team mates won the USA vs the world heat
High School Boys’ 400m Hurdles Championship
Event 409Saturday 9:00 AM
|
Records |
||||
| NR | Mumford (Detroit, Mich.) | 49.38 | 2002 | Kenneth Ferguson |
| PR | Camden (N.J.) | 50.47 | 2001 | Dwight Ruff |
Final on Time
|
PL |
ID |
Athlete |
School/Affiliation |
Mark |
Sec |
| 1 | 3 | Eric Futch | Penn Wood (Lansdowne, PA) | 51.77 |
2 |
| 2 | 10 | Kadesh Roberts | Bay Shore (Bay Shore, NY) | 52.43 |
2 |
| 3 | 5 | Jermaine Collier | Trenton Central (Trenton, NJ) | 52.51 |
2 |
| 4 | 11 | Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong | DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, NY) | 52.59 |
2 |
| 5 | 6 | Brandon Benjamin | St. Augustine (St. Augustine, TRI) | 52.73 |
2 |
| 6 | 1 | Javarn Gallimore | Jamaica College (Kingston, JAM) | 53.02 |
2 |
| 7 | 16 | Brandon Hill | Trenton Central (Trenton, NJ) | 53.55 |
2 |
| 8 | 14 | Brandon Gregory | North’n Valley Old Tappan (Old Tappan, NJ) | 53.58 |
2 |
| 9 | 20 | Evan Johnson | Ewing (Trenton, NJ) | 53.67 |
1 |
| 10 | 22 | Aaron Willett | Coatesville (Coatesville, PA) | 53.88 |
1 |
| 11 | 18 | Edward Wagner | Xavier (New York, NY) | 54.57 |
1 |
| 12 | 24 | Chris Guerrero | Governor Livingston (Berkeley Heights, NJ) | 54.62 |
1 |
| 13 | 23 | Todd Townsend | West Catholic (Philadelphia, PA) | 55.18 |
1 |
| 14 | 25 | Dario Scantlebury | Queen’s College (St. James, BAR) | 56.32 |
1 |
| 15 | 26 | Andre Hewitt | Transit Tech (Brooklyn, NY) | 56.48 |
1 |
| 16 | 27 | Marcus Williams | Delsea Regional (Franklinville, NJ) | 56.60 |
1 |
4 x 400 Ches-Mont race
|
PL |
School/Affiliation |
Mark |
Athletes |
ID |
|
| 1 | Great Valley (Malvern, PA) | 3:23.21 | Michael Brown, Demetrius McCary, Max Burgess, Ned Willig | PE | |
| 2 | Coatesville (Coatesville, PA) | 3:24.40 | Kevin Smith, Keon Thompson, Rahshon Rokins, Aaron Willett | PA | |
| 3 | Downingtown West (Downingtown, PA) | 3:26.41 | Chris Graham, Chris Eberhardt, Alex Jenkins, Troy Hardy | PC | |
| 4 | Downingtown East (Exton, PA) | 3:26.44 | Maurice Barber, Adhish Ramkumar, Matt Flaig, Steve O’Donnell | PF | |
| 5 | Henderson (West Chester, PA) | 3:30.56 | Rob Miller, AJ Chaborek, Jason Hall, Charlie Grab | PB | |
| 6 | Bayard Rustin (West Chester, PA) | 3:32.97 | Eric Miller, Ethan Ridgeway, Sean Howat, Husayn Siddiqui | PH | |
| 7 | Avon Grove (West Grove, PA) | 3:33.81 | Andrew Lasker, Devin Soliwoda, Mike Coletta, Mike D’Antonio | PJ | |
| 8 | Sun Valley (Aston, PA) | 3:44.63 | Nick Simone, Andrew Anthony , Scott Rickards, Dan Shuster | PD | |
| 9 | Unionville (Kennett Square, PA) | 3:49.02 | Evan Urbani, Jeb Miller, Steven Daniels, Billy Pinamont | PG |
High School Girls’ 4×100 Tri-State
Event 466Saturday 1:55 PM
|
Records |
||||
| ER | Paramus Catholic (N.J.) | 46.90 | 2010 | Asher Beasley, Rae Corbo, Bryanna Knight, Myasia Jacobs) |
Results
|
PL |
School/Affiliation |
Mark |
Athletes |
ID |
|
| 1 | Central Dauphin East (Harrisburg, PA) | 47.64 | Bria Mosley, Courtney Mitchell, Sidine Jennings, Demeshia Davis | D | |
| 2 | Winslow (Atco, NJ) | 48.08 | DeAnn Cross, Cidae’a Woods, Torie Robinson, Stey’ce Mcneil | A | |
| 3 | Swenson Arts & Tech (Philadelphia, PA) | 48.14 | Imani Harris, Tichina Rhodes, Amy Hicks, Amani Nesmith | B | |
| 4 | Pennridge (Perkasie, PA) | 48.37 | Taylor Chapman, Ariana Przybylowski, Casey O’Brien, Natalia Pinkney | C | |
| 5 | Coatesville (Coatesville, PA) | 48.68 | Zhane Williams, Layanna Austin, Kenya Woodall, Helen Adams | G | |
| 6 | Norristown (Norristown, PA) | 48.85 | Rowie Watson, Alexis Bell, Delshirah Culbreath, Zayna Milligan | E | |
| 7 | Columbia (Maplewood, NJ) | 49.42 | Ambur Ballew, Kenya Gaston, Maya Hinton, Kayla Richardson | I | |
| 8 | Paramus Catholic (Paramus, NJ) | 49.78 | Rosie Menyhart, Tatiyanna Sanders, Jordyn Smith, Angela Harrison | H | |
| 9 | Upper Darby (Upper Darby, PA) | 50.00 | Tirzah Johnson, Amani Fields, Kayla Williams, Ashley Rankine | F |
High School Girls’ 4×400 Philadelphia Area
Event 492Saturday 5:15 PM
|
Records |
||||
| NR | Long Beach Poly (CA) | 3:35.49 | 2004 | Shana Woods (55.7), DeShanta Harris (55.6), Jasmine Lee (52.6), Shalonda Solomon (51.6) |
| PR | Holmwood Tech (Manchester, Jamaica) | 3:34.75 | 2001 | Kerri Ann White, Karen Gayle, Aneisha McLaughlin, Sheryl Morgan |
| ER | William Penn (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 3:44.45 | 1995 | Quanda Tallington, Brandit Copper, Neffertitti Cooper, Angel Patterson |
Results
|
PL |
School/Affiliation |
Mark |
Athletes |
ID |
|
| 1 | Central Bucks West (Doylestown, PA) | 3:52.91 | Lizanne Furst, Courtney Taylor, Kelsey Horst, Jamila Branch | B | |
| 2 | Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, PA) | 3:53.51 | Uche Oneoha, Husniyyah Rogers, Sara Sargent, Zakiyyah Richardson | E | |
| 3 | Coatesville (Coatesville, PA) | 3:56.55 | Mel Holl, Jasmine Sampson, Helen Adams, Kenya Woodall | A | |
| 4 | Swenson Arts & Tech (Philadelphia, PA) | 3:57.54 | Amani Nesmith, Imani Harris, Amy Hicks, Tichina Rhodes | D | |
| 5 | Strath Haven (Wallingford, PA) | 3:57.92 | Jamie Kenney, Allie Wilson, Megan O’Dell, Kristen Miller | K | |
| 6 | Abington (Abington, PA) | 3:58.53 | Jordan Matthews, Ashley Spraggins, Rachel Strothers, Vicki Matthews | G | |
| 7 | Winslow (Atco, NJ) | 3:58.76 | DeAnn Cross, Torie Robinson, Christine Oguledo, Stey’ce McNeil | C | |
| 8 | Archbishop Prendergast (Drexel Hill, PA) | 3:59.90 | Sara Dever, Lauren Lamoureux, Julieanne Groshon, Evan Dangerfield | H | |
| 9 | Central Bucks East (Doylestown, PA) | 4:00.90 | Dara Lindsey, Kelly Knauer, Melanie Caine, Miranda Meehan | L | |
| 10 | Howard Tech (Wilmington, DE) | 4:02.32 | Aire ‘Yona Mason, Danae Carter, Lachae Jordan, Myra Wanamaker | I | |
| 11 | Cheltenham (Wyncote, PA) | 4:05.83 | Francine Marquis, Hannah Gilliam, Ciara Leonard, Kayla Coley | J | |
| 12 | Lenape (Medford, NJ) | 4:08.33 | Carly Pettipaw, Ana De Las Heras, Emily McGee, Allison Cox | F |
