Great Valley girls set winning pace twice at Penn Relays

Philadelphia >> During the first two days of the 126th running of the Penn Relays, Great Valley enjoyed a couple of victorious finishes.
In an exciting, down-to-the-wire finish, the Patriots’ quartet of junior Rachel Hubley, junior Stephanie Cristinzio, senior Gillian Yonce and sophomore Briella Gorman won the High School Girls 4×100 National race Friday, posting a 48.96 clocking. Great Valley’s winning time barely edged second-place Elizabeth Seton (Md.), clocked at 48.99, and third-place finisher Clayton (N.J.), who recorded a time of 49.02.
“We’re excited beyond words,” said Great Valley coach Nicole Jones. “This is the first time that a Great Valley girls 4×100 relay advanced to the Penn Relays finals. And it means even more to our team, with our assistant coach Andrew Lee being treated for leukemia.”
“Our handoffs were really smooth,” said Yonce.
Gorman said, “I saw Clayton on our side [down the stretch] and I knew I had to push it. I took a good handoff [from Yonce]. It was fun – I can’t wait to be back here next year.”
For Gorman, Hubley and Cristinzio, it was their first time competing at Penn Relays.
“It helped that we got off to a good start,” said Cristinzio, who received the baton from Hubley.
On Thursday, the Great Valley quartet of Yonce, Shalya Bismark-Pettit, Julia Dill and Cristinzio finished first in the High School Girls 4×400 Suburban ChesMont race, with a clocking of 4:00.94. That first-place finish Thursday qualified the quartet for Friday’s High School Girls 4×400 Philadelphia Area race.

Competing in the High School Girls 4×400 Philadelphia Area race less than an hour after the High School Girls 4×100 National race, the Great Valley foursome placed seventh.
Also on Friday, the Great Valley quartet of Jake Zielinski, Peter Schembri, Patrick Hanlon and Cooper Schrader qualified for a spot in Saturday’s High School Boys 4×800 Championship of America by running 8:04.48 in the High School Boys 4×800 heats.
“We are definitely excited and grateful to have another opportunity to race [Saturday] as we didn’t run the kind of time that we all think we are capable of running,” said Jones. “The boys made the District 1 qualifying standard [Friday] and are anxious to improve.”

Coatesville placed 11th in the final High School Boys 4×100 Heat Friday, with the quartet of Donte London, Robert Turner, Amir Haskett and Lebron Bessick clocking 42.02, the No. 1-ranked time in Pennsylvania. Of the 10 relay teams that were faster in this heat, eight were from Jamaica, one was from Maryland and one from Oklahoma.
Also on Friday, Coatesville’s boys 4×800 relay team of Josh Miller, Dave Kelly, Tommy Silvester and Marcus Evans ran 8:13.82.
Another local entry in Friday’s High School Girls 4×100 National race was West Chester Rustin. The Golden Knights’ quartet of sophomore Amelia Fiore, junior Ava Alexander, junior Sidney Sagullo and junior Keturah Darwon placed eighth. For Fiore, Sagullo and Darwon, it was their first time at Penn Relays.

“It was good that we got here, a good [competitive] experience,” said Sagullo.
In the High School Girls 4×100 Northeast race Friday, the Downingtown East quartet of junior Katie Riley, sophomore Faith Fuqua, freshman Olivia Dever and senior Olivia Binns finished eighth. For Dever and Riley, this was their first Penn Relays.
Binn, who will run track for Saint Joseph’s University next spring, said, “This is my third year running at Penn Relays, but the first time I was on a relay team that made the finals. I’m very proud of our team. We did our best, and when we found out we qualified for the final, we were hyped.”
Fuqua said, “We gave our best effort, this was really exciting.”
On Thursday, Kennett junior Kirstin Hoffman finished second in the High School Girls Pole Vault Championship with a mark of 12-3 ½. The first-place finisher, Veronica Vacca of Mount St. Joseph, recorded 12-7 ½.
“Kirstin is the best vaulter we have had in our program when it comes to jumping in the wind,” said Kennett coach John Ramagano. “She has covered three PRs in the past two years in wind gusts over 20 mph and is not fazed when it comes to vaulting in less than ideal conditions. With the wind up [Thursday], we knew she would place well.”
Another local competitor in the High School Girls Pole Vault Championship was Villa Maria Academy’s Maddy Kelley, who placed fifth with a mark of 11-7 ¾.
Unionville senior Alexandra Pancoast finished 12th at the High School Girls’ Discus Throw Championships Thursday with a mark of 121-4.
“Alex is having a great year and has broken her own school record twice in the shot put,” said Unionville coach Mark Lacianca. “We think she has the biggest upside in the discus and has been over 126 twice and is within a foot of that school record.”
Coatesville’s Lorelei Eberly finished 15th at the High School Girls Long Jump Championship Thursday, with a mark of 16-2 ¼.
“Lorelei is coming off a hamstring pull and we were very excited that she was able to long jump and run in the Relays,” said Coatesville girls track coach Rebecca Eberly. “It brings back all the memories from my own high school days. I competed in the long jump at Penn Relays in 1990, and have always wanted at least one of my four children to follow in my footprints as a jumper. I am looking forward to seeing her surpass her personal best of 18-2.”
Also on Thursday, the Downingtown West foursome of Lilly Henning, Ellen Ramsey, Julia Marasco and Ryleigh Hearn placed second in the High School Girls 4×400 Suburban ChesMont race with a time of 4:08.50.