Chester boys, Penn Wood girls get good gauge on where they stand

PHILADELPHIA >> The final day of the 124th Penn Relays was a good one for the girls 4 x 400-meter relay team from Penn Wood and the boys 4 x 400-meter relay squads from Episcopal Academy, Radnor and Chester, along with Strath Haven jumper Dayo Abeeb.

Thanks to a sizzling anchor split from Elicia Moore (55.86 seconds), Penn Wood took third in the girls Philadelphia Area 4 x 400-meter relay with a season-best time of 3:52.82. Shaniyh Toodles, Kyra Carroll and Fanta Konde were on that team, too.

The race was a good barometer for the rest of the season. The Patriots finished behind Neumann-Goretti, which is Class 2A, and Coatesville.

“It was good to place and PR against really good competition,” Carroll said.

In the morning, EA’s Chris Zimmerman, Chris Bassett, Elias Lindgren and Jack Bush shattered the school record by two seconds with a time of 3 minutes, 24.83 seconds to win the Inter-Ac 4 x 400 title and earn a spot later in the afternoon in the Philadelphia Area final. The Churchmen finished eighth in that race with a time of 3:25.62.

“It’s amazing, Bush said. “I’ve been coming here since I was in the fourth grade and to do what we did is amazing. We’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s nice to have it finally pay off.”

Ethan Zeh, Jahmair Rider, Frank Brown and Chris Barkley teamed up to lead Radnor to the title in the Central League 4 x 400 in 3:26.84. That time may not have been good enough to advance to later in the day, but the Raiders were happy with it.

“All we wanted to do was run hard and give our best and that’s what we did,” Riders said.

Lamaj Curry, Malik Langley, Abdul Griggs and Malachi Langley of Chester made it three wins in a row for Delco with a victory in the Suburban A 4 x 400. The Clippers brought the baton home in 3:24.87.

“We came in and accomplished what we wanted to accomplish,” Curry said. “We wanted to come in, hit a good time and we did that.”

Cardinal O’Hara, Archbishop Carroll and Bonner & Prendergast got to run on the NBCSN national broadcast in the Catholic League 4 x 400. That came on the heels of the USA vs. World men’s 4 x 100-meter race.

“That psyched us up,” said Macneil Mandeh, who ran the leadoff leg for the O’Hara team of Quasir Cottman, Daneal Williams and Tommy Andrusko that finished sixth. “Even if you weren’t feeling it before (the USA vs. World race) you were feeling it afterward.

Bonner & Prendie (Alton McKenley, Nwabueze Onyemachi, Tony Harper, Enoobong Eka) were the top Delco finishers in the Catholic League race. The Friars were fifth in 3:32.27.

In the field events, Abeeb leaped a personal best 46 feet, 8¾ inches to take ninth in a field of 18 competitors in the triple jump.