Ritchie’s final sprint breaks new ground for Marple Newtown
HAVERFORD — As she entered the final 100 meters of her anchor leg in the southern sprint medley relay Saturday at the Girls Delco Relays, Marple Newtown’s Rebecca Ritchie was not thinking of winning the race.
“I wanted to pass the runner in front of me so my team would finish third and medal,” Ritchie said.
Once she moved into third place, however, Ritchie had a change of heart.
“I realized I could take first,” Ritchie said. “I was like, ‘Wow, they’re slowing down and I have more in me.’”
Julia Fallows, who ran the leadoff leg, realized something special was about to happen, too.
“When she came around (PA announcer Bill Coren of Strath Haven) kept saying the two teams in front of her, but she just kept going,” Fallows said. “We were screaming for her.”
With Fallows and teammates Piper Walton and Donna Holt offering words of encouragement down the stretch, Ritchie passed the anchor runners from Springfield and Ridley to give the Tigers the victory in the event that consists of legs of 100-, 100-, 200- and 400-meters.
The victory touched off a wild celebration among the runners and coaches Robin McNally and Nancy McNally, because it was believed to be Marple’s first victory at the Delco Relays.
“Most of us PR’d in our splits so they were absolutely thrilled for us,” Holt said. “We haven’t won in a long time, especially at a big meet like this so this really means a lot.”
Holt had enough energy in reserve from her 200 meter leg that she sprinted across the turf at Haverford’s A.G. Cornog field twice to urge Ritchie on.
“I had just finished passing off to her and I immediately ran to the other side of the track,” Holt said. “I thought the girl in fifth was going to pass her, but then I saw her speed up and knew she had more in her. I ran back to the other straightaway to watch her finish and when I got there she was passing everyone. We were just screaming. We were all together and we knew she was going to win.”
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For a solid month, Strath Haven All-Delco Grace Forbes wasn’t feeling good. Every time she ran she felt weak, fatigued. It took a blood test to reveal that the Rice-bound senior had an iron deficiency, her red blood cell count was low and that she was gluten intolerant.
She’s taking iron bills to deal with that issue and for the last week her diet has been gluten free.
“I don’t get cookies or brownies anymore, but I can still eat ice cream,” Forbes said of her diet. “It’s not that bad.”
The medication and diet paid off in a big way Saturday. Forbes won three gold medals and helped the Panthers take down Cardinal O’Hara’s 32-year-old record in the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay.
Forbes teamed with Angela Campenella, Dizari Hunter and Olivia Malley to win the sprint medley in 4:05.12 to break the mark of 4:08.74 set by O’Hara in 1987. O’Malley ran a 58-second split in her 400-meter leg and Forbes turned in a 2:12 anchor split in the 800 portion of the race. Forbes also teamed with Ava Crawford, Rowe Crawford and Abby Loiselle to win the 4 x 1,600. Forbes capped her day with a victory in the 4 x 400. Malley, Tess Bailey and Dana Hubbell were on that relay, too.
“I just wanted to see how I felt,” Forbes said. “It was a perfect day to run. I was trying to be happy and see how fast I could go.”
Forbes didn’t find out until 30 minutes before the sprint medley that Coren, her coach, was aiming on her to help break the record in the sprint medley. That didn’t give Forbes or her teammates much time to prepare, but they were up to the challenge.
“It wasn’t just me,” Forbes said. “Everyone ran a great leg. It means a lot, especially since it lasted so long. How long was it, 32 years? That’s crazy.”
Malley put the length of the record in perspective.
“My mom said she graduated in that year,” Malley said.
Malley also was a triple winner. She was on the winning 4 x 100 with Campenella, Bailey and Hunter before taking part in the sprint medley and 4 x 400. She had to dig deep to close out the meet in the 4 x 400.
“I’ve been running the open 400 a lot recently in dual meets so I’ve been running by myself,” Malley said. “I’ve been running it the way I like to run it, which is slow and then fast. But there was someone right next to me in the 400 leg (in the sprint medley) so I had to go out really fast in the first 200, which killed me in the straightaway. I was dead leading up to the 4 x 4. I was really, really tired and not feeling good.”
Strath Haven’s Alexandra Hehn tied the school record in the pole vault relay (10-0) and teamed with Katie Pak to win gold in that relay. It was the first time she topped the 10-foot barrier.
“I’m happy, but at the same time I’m like, ‘I should push myself to do more, now,’” Hehn said. “I pushed myself to do this; I can push myself to do something higher.”
The Panthers also won the 4 x 100 shuttle hurdles relay for the fifth year in a row.
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Upper Darby won two relays. Kayla Thorpe and Olivia Thomas teamed up to win the discus relay. Alice Etienne and Esther Akande were first in the triple jump relay. Ridley’s Meghan Lynch earned a gold and two silver medals. She teamed with Rylie Butler for first in the long jump relay and was on the shuttle hurdles and 4 x 400 relay teams that finished second
