Penn Relays Day 2: Roosevelt, Seton show speed
Raiders take second in 400-meter relay, while Roadrunners finish sixth
PHILADELPHIA -- Arguably, the two best girls' 400-meter relay teams in the nation are from Prince George's County.
The Eleanor Roosevelt and Elizabeth Seton high school teams represented the nation well in the high school girls Championship of America 400 relay final at the 115th Penn Relays Carnival.
The Raiders' team of Abi Adenikinju, Aurieyall Scott, Jenea McCammon and Afia Charles finished behind only Jamaica's Vere Technical (45.10).
"First, I'm really proud of them bouncing back from a disappointing performance in the [1,600 relay] yesterday," Raiders' coach Greg Johnson said. "They really ran a great race because all of the teams in the top four ran college times."
The Roadrunners, who were second in the Small Schools division of the 400 relay last season, wanted to finish in less than 46 seconds, but coach Omar Wilkins just wanted them to "have fun."
"I think they did an excellent job, I didn't put any pressure on them," Wilkins said. "When you come out here and the competition is high, it's very tough to step up to the plate and run well two times."
Oxon Hill girls impress
The Oxon Hill High girls' 1,600 relay team did not disappoint in its Championship of America final.
The Clippers finished sixth, as the team of Cearha Miller, Callister Jones, Deseree' King and Taylor Butler established a combined personal-record time of 3 minutes, 47.75 seconds. Jamaica's Edwin Allen (3:41.25) won the race, and fifth-place Junipero Serra (Calif.) was the top U.S. finisher (3:47.65).
The Clippers' 400 relay team of Shanel Deal, King, Butler and Miller finished third in the Large Schools division with a time of 46.93 seconds, just .21 seconds behind Rancho Verde (Calif.), which won the race.
Elsewhere on the oval
DeMatha High junior Cory Puffett finished ninth in the boys' 3,000 meters with a time of 8:37.90. Puffett competed in a field of 20 runners that included winner Robert Micikas (8:23.84) of Crestwood High (Pa.) and Sherwood High phenom Solomon Haile, who entered the race as the favorite but finished fourth (8:29.29).
The Eleanor Roosevelt boys' 400 relay team dealt with a bit of drama. Thursday night, one of the members of the team broke curfew and was removed from the lineup. Michael McLendon stepped in and helped the Raiders drop their time. The team of Tristan Youngblood, Denny Long, Abdulla Bangura and McClendon finished 21st in the Large Schools division (43.08).
Elsewhere in the Large Schools 400 relay, the Charles H. Flowers team of Oshea Johnson, Dwayne Powell, Trevor Gandy and Mike Rowland finished 33rd (43.48). Bowie's team of Bilah Rahim, Collin Manning, Anthony Simpson and Daniel Ballah was 39th (43.59). Jordan Lomax, Donte Washington, Robert Corbitt and Michael Milburn of DeMatha were 51st (43.70). More than 260 teams competed in the Large Schools division.
The Largo boys' 400 relay team of Robert Moore, Ben McKenzie, Andrew Wright and Dennis Wolley was the top county finisher in the Small Schools division with a time of 43.77. The Lions were 29th out of more than 260 teams in the division. Frederick Douglass was 64th (44.63). Central was 74th (44.83) and Riverdale Baptist was 78th (44.89).
The official attendance was 39,501, the third-highest total on a Friday in Penn Relays history.