Penn Wood girls smash record they waited so long to break

SHIPPENSBURG >> It’s one thing to say you’re going to break a state record. It’s another thing to do it.
Penn Wood’s Janae Pitt, Agnes Mansaray, Elicia Moore and Terri Turner did not just talk the talk, which they’ve been doing all season, they walked the walk in the PIAA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Shippensburg University.
The foursome has been talking about breaking the Class AAA state meet record after smashing the county mark while winning the Philadelphia area high school girls 4 x 400-meter relay at the Penn Relays a month ago. Pitt, Mansaray, Moore and Turner kept their word and didn’t just break the state meet record of 3 minutes, 46.20 seconds set by Abington in 2011, they annihilated it.
The Patriots won in 3:42.67. That’s nearly four seconds faster than the Ghosts ran five years ago. In a sprint relay, that’s an eternity.
“That was the goal,” Turner said. “We said we were going to break the state record and we did it.”
And what made the accomplishment even more incredible was that Turner, Pitt and Mansaray competed in individual events on a hot day before they teamed up with Moore on their historic run. Turner took seventh in the 400 (56.38 seconds). Pitt was eighth in the 300 hurdles (45.58) and Mansaray took second in the 800 with a personal best time of 2:07.53. Moore was the only one with fresh legs.
“We’re used to running more than that,” Mansaray said.
The same group normally runs the 4 x 800 relay, too, but Penn Wood coach Lenny Jordan chose not to enter them in the event at last week’s District One Championships so they could be fresh for the 4 x 400. They nearly broke the county record (3:45.76) that day, but saved their best for last.
Mansaray, who said she is headed to Norfolk State, put the Patriots on a record pace with a sizzling 53-second split on the second leg of the relay. All Moore and Turner had to do was bring it home and they did.
“I knew Cheltenham would be following me,” Turner said. “I ran against the same girls in the 400 so I knew how they ran and how they would come after me. I thought it was going to be a repeat of Penn Relays, but it wasn’t.”
Turner was nearly caught by Cheltenham at Penn. This time she crossed the line nearly two seconds ahead of the Panthers.
“I just ran for my life,” Turner said.
The result was a state championship and a meet record.
“It means a lot to us,” Moore said. “We can come here next year and hear (the announcer say), ‘The record is 3:42.67, held by Penn Wood.’ And then we’ll hear him say, ‘The defending champions are on the line.’”
Three will be back. Only Mansaray is a senior. Turner is a junior. Moore is a sophomore and Pitt is just a freshman.
“Yeah, but we’re going to miss Agnes,” Pitt said. “She’s the best.”