Trojans shine at Wissahickon Relays

AMBLER >> Already a district qualifier in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Rahsheed Wright had the opportunity to tackle the 800 on Saturday.
“It’s a big mental race. You just have to have the right mindset to do well,” said the standout sprinter. “That third part of the race, you just gotta have the right mindset that you can finish it.
“It’s gonna hurt. But it felt good at the end though, to run a good P.R.”
Wright’s half mile anchored home the Sprint Medley Relay for the Trojans, who had a tremendous showing on both the boys and girls side as they hosted the Wissahickon Relays on a sunny afternoon at Wiss.
“In terms of the whole season, I’m doing well but I can still get my P.R.’s down,” Wright said. “I’m working on that right now.
“I’m looking to not only win districts but place well at states.”
Aiming to build up that final push to the Penn Relays and the postseason, the Trojans placed well in several relays, including the winning SMR.
Rob Wilson and Matt Flancer got out to the lead with solid 200 legs, and Shamere Dunswell took care of the 400.
“We wanted to get him some strength work so we can put him down for the 4×4 at Penn Relays,” Wright said. “Then I ran the 800 to get some light conditioning work in.”
The Trojan 4×4 is also closing in on a district-qualifying time. Wiss put together several good relay foursomes Saturday, with the SMR going 3:46.12 to outrace Springside Chestnut Hill (3:54.21), Archbishop Carroll (3:57.17) and Penncrest (4:08.03) for top honors.
“Wissahickon usually does well here,” said a smiling Wilson, who hopes to do a sub-52 in the 400 as the postseasn draws near.
Fast foursomes >> The Wiss boys also crossed first in the 4×200 relay, a foursome of Mark Futch, Damyron Harvey, Terrell Gordon and Bobby McKnight pushing to a 1:34.0.
McKnight had enough gas left to hold off Archbishop Carroll (1:34.62) at the finish.
Wiss also topped fellow challengers Penncrest (1:35.62) and Springside (1:36.55).
Said Harvey: “I feel as though we’re getting better with every meet. And there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
The Trojan girls 4×100 relay of Makayla Pickett, Lieke Black, Dru Johnson and Kasi Brown also outraced the field, combining their efforts to go 51.75.
“I’m tired but I’m glad we got the win,” said a hustling Brown after making the final push for Wiss.
The Trojans were able to hold off Springfield Montco (53.69), Archbishop Carroll (53.88), Gwynedd Mercy Academy (54.09) and Marple Newtown (54.52) for top honors.
McCarry goes long >> Christian McCarry and Gordon added to Wiss’ medal count, combinining for a mark of 36 feet, 9 inches and a bronze in the long jump relay.
McCarry had a leap of 19-2, punching his ticket to districts, with Gordon getting out 17-7.
Brown’s success continued out into the field, as she triple jumped to a gold with a leap of 33-3, took the long with a 14-10, and cleared 4-10 for the top spot in the high jump.
Teammate Hanna Park, meanwhile, won the girls javelin for the Trojans with a throw of 172-8, and also threw furthest in the shot (28-3.5) and discus (91-11).