Owen J. Roberts turns in strong opening day of Penn Relays

Owen J. Roberts had a strong showing Thursday on a chilly opening day of the 122nd running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

The Lady Wildcats posted a second-place finish in the 4×400 Suburban A relay to close out the opening day action, where they posted a 4:03.18. The contingent, which cut over seven seconds off its time from a year ago, included Teneisha Myers, Ally Brunton, Megan Bernotas and Morgan Shronk on the anchor. The Wildcats finished only behind Penn Wood (3:54.71) in the 12-team race.

Methacton took third place in the event (4:03.52). The bronze finish included Caroline Duffy, Gianna Fazio, Lauren Prusacki and Kelly Groth and cut over four seconds off their 2015 time of 4:07.46.

“Today’s relays went really well for us,” said Duffy, a senior committed to run at Saint Joseph’s University in the fall. “Considering the weather conditions we ran in today, we were really pleased with our time.”

The Warriors also finished 33rd in the 4×100 Large School relay with a time of 49.58. With Duffy serving as anchor, Methacton’s Prusacki, Amy Domenick and Rainah Dunham finished just behind Northern Highlands (Allendale, N.J.) at 49.55.

Owen J. Roberts also took a 12th-place finish in the 4×800 Small Schools event in the morning, where they ran a 9:36.82. That run included Megan and Mary Bernotas, Alex Glasier and Brunton on the anchor. Vere Technical (Clarendon, Jamaica) took first place with a time of 9:19.89.

OJR also posted an area-best in 383-team 4×100 Small Schools relay with an 83rd-place finish. That contingent — Katelyn Bernotas, Myers, Shaylan Cobb and Shronk — finished at 51.45, cutting nearly an entire second off the Wildcats’ time from 2015 (52.38).

Holmwood Tech (Christiana, Jamaica) took first place and in the process tied the Penn Relay record with a time of 45.64.

Pottsgrove took 149th in the 4×100 Small Schools with a time of 54.24. That contingent included Diana Randleman, Brittany Hellams-Ray, Kerry Brennan and Miazziah Rose.

The Hill School finished seventh in the Prep School 4×400 relay on Thursday afternoon where the Blues posted a 4:13.70. Anchored by Payton Miles, The Hill relay included Gabby Bendall, Katherine Barron and Paige Swartz. Hannah Cummings finished 17th in the Javelin Championship, where she hurled it 34.27 meters (112-5).

Perkiomen Valley posted a fourth-place finish in the 4×400 Suburban A and also finished 12th in the 4×800 Large Schools.

The relay of Michelle Daniels, Jocelyn Rotay, Karleigh White and Rachel Pendrak posted the fourth-place finish with a time of 4:13.09. Spring-Ford’s Emily Smith, Jenna Darlington, Aleigha Johnson and Nandini Patel followed right behind with a 4:13.35.

The Vikings also finished 12th in the 4×800 with a time of 9:36.82. That included Daniels, Julia Dorley, White and Rotay. Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) took first with a finish of 9:11.03.

With the weather calling for similar conditions as Thursday, the opening day of boys action gets underway on Friday with the High School 4×800 Small Schools relay leading it off at 9:20 a.m.