The Eleanor Roosevelt High School girls’ track team has risen to becomer perhaps the best program in the country. Even fans and athletes from other parts of the country were cheering on the Raiders last week when they competed against the dominant Jamaican high school programs at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
With something to prove to themselves, the Raiders continued to make history at the Penn Relays, even a year after graduating a stable of runners who helped them win two Championship of America titles in 2007.
Roosevelt repeated its Championship of America title in the 1,600-meter relay and notched a new national record in the 3,200 relay, though they had to settle for second place.
Elan Hilaire, Doris Anyanwu, Afia Charles and Tasha Stanley won an emotional race in the 1,600 relay, finishing in 3 minutes, 37.16 seconds, three seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Manchester High.
The team of Dominique Lockhart, Amirah Johnson, Brittany Ogun-Mokun and Stanley shattered the old U.S. mark in the 3,200 relay by more than seven seconds, finishing in 8:43.12.
Still the Raiders took second in the event to Jamaica’s Holmwood Tech, which notched a blazing time of 8:41.92.
‘‘To come back and to get a shot a making history and being successful at doing so is just phenomenal,” Roosevelt coach Desmond Dunham said. ‘‘It’s just definitely a monumental mark within the history of this program. We had the difficulty of getting over the hump. The pressure of higher expectations to defend our title and to be able to do that talks volumes of the dedication of everyone associated with this program.”
Stanley began to break down just as she approached the finish line. Her day started with personal disappointment.
‘‘After we ran the [3,200 relay], I was upset that we didn’t defend our championship,” Stanley said. ‘‘I had to come back and run the [1,600 relay] and I knew it wouldn’t be fair to my teammates if I didn’t come out and give them my all. We’re just hungry for success and we always work hard.”
A distinct quality helps the Raiders achieve their goals. When the stakes are the highest, most of the team establishes new personal record times. Roosevelt runners established 11 personal bests last weekend.
Raider freshman Amirah Johnson, who had a 2:08.6 split in the 3,200 relay, managed to handle the intimidating atmosphere of the Penn Relays well.
‘‘I was really nervous, it doesn’t even describe it,” Johnson admitted. ‘‘In practice, we all work so hard. We just really had a big meet.”
The 400 relay had a tough time, as the team finished sixth with a time of 46.66 seconds.
The Raider boys, on the other hand, had a respectable showing in the 1,600 relay. The team of Tristan Youngblood, Maurice Dukes, Jovon Edwards and Michael Sesay ran the second-fastest time of any county school (3:22.50).
Seton shines
Last season, the Elizabeth Seton High School girls’ track team roared back to prominence with a runaway victory at the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships.
Since that time, the Roadrunners have established themselves as one of the premier sprinting programs in the area.Last week, at the Penn Relays, Seton proved it is among the best in the country, as its 400-meter relay team finished second in the high school girls’ small schools division (46.31 seconds). The Roadrunners were less than a second off of the winning time of 45.64, run by Jamaica’s Manchester High.
What made Seton’s effort all the more impressive was the fact that the team of Jameice DeCoster, Dionna Hayes, Ashley Ajai and Adenike Pedro had not run together this outdoor season prior to last weekend.
‘‘They stepped up when they had to,” said Seton coach Robert Watson. ‘‘Their effort was just incredible.”
DeCoster said the team’s ability to perform together at a high level without track time together came down to more than just talent.
‘‘I think the fact that we all had a lot of heart going into the race helped us be successful,” DeCoster said. ‘‘We didn’t run together before this, but we knew that we had to try extra hard. We wanted it real bad. Our team has a lot of heart. We’re unified, we love track because it excites us and that’s what we live for.”
E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.
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