Coatesville 4×400 repeats at Penn Relays
PHILADELPHIA >> As the upper classmen on Coatesville’s 4 x 400-meter relay team, it was up to senior Karley Hess and junior Makayla Eberly to keep freshmen Sammie Miller and Patrisha Rokins focused in their first Penn Relays as high school athletes.
Staying warm on a cold, rainy afternoon at Franklin Field also was critical for the Red Raiders to repeat as the champions in the Suburban Ches-Mont race.
Hess and Eberly handled the first part of that task with aplomb as Coatesville cruised past Downingtown East and Henderson to win the event for the fourth time in the last six years. The Raiders finished in 4 minutes, 2.34 seconds. The Whippets (4:10.02) held off the Warriors (4:10.37) for second.
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“We just reminded them of how hard we worked and to go out there and run their best,” Eberly said.
Miller, Rokins and Eberly did just that. Miller kept the Raiders in the front of the pack on the leadoff leg.
Coatesville was just behind when Henderson when Miller handed Rokins the baton. The Raiders were not second for long. Rokins ran a blistering 59.79 split and Eberly followed with an even better 59.27 split to give Hess the baton with a comfortable lead.
“They’re like our big sisters,” Rokins said of Hess and Eberly. “They guided us every step of the way.”
Staying warm was another matter altogether, especially for Hess as she waited to run the last legt of the race.
“It was freezing out there,” Hess said. “It was tough, but by the third leg I was able to get focused on being ready to go.”
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Unionville (Kacie Breeding, Lyndsay Hastings, Camryn Rickenbach and Anna Juul) took fourth in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:58.16. Lake Braddock of Virginia won the DMR with the fourth fastest time in relays history (11:36.52).
Aislinn Devlin of Downingtown West was third in the 3,000-meter run (9:50.56).
In other events, Villa Maria’s Erin Zimmerman finished ninth in the javelin with a throw of 123-3. Stacey Wolverton of Downingtown West was tied for 15th in the high jump at 5-1.
