New Jersey's Friday Highlights at Penn Relays


CBA after their Distance Medley victory. 

This article takes a quick look at the top performances from New Jersey high school athletes during Friday's events at the Penn Relays.

Top Headlines of Penn Relays Day 2



    Boys 4x800m Relay

    New Jersey advanced three teams to the 12 team final for the Championship of America race set to take place Saturday at 4:10pm. 

    All three teams ran in the same qualifying heat with Cherokee running 7:51.14, the fourth fastest time of the day, Toms River North went 7:52.51, the sixth fastest time, and West Orange clocked a 7:54.27, the ninth fastest time. Jamaica College ran the top qualifying time with a 7:45.38.

    New Jersey 4x800m Teams at Penn Relays - Trials

    15 NJ teams out of the 71 who competed. 

    RankTEamsTime
    4Cherokee (Marlton, NJ)7:51.14
    6Toms River North (Toms River, NJ)7:52.51
    9West Orange (West Orange, NJ)7:54.27
    14Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, NJ)7:58.13
    19WWP North (Plainsboro, NJ)8:01.12
    26Colts Neck (Colts Neck, NJ)8:03.29
    27Metuchen (Metuchen, NJ)8:03.61
    30Summit (Summit, NJ)8:04.05
    32Northern Valley Regional (Demarest, NJ)8:04.60
    38River Dell Regional (Oradell, NJ)8:08.19
    40Bernards (Bernardsville, NJ)8:08.38
    62North Hunterdon (Annandale, NJ)8:22.00
    63Elizabeth (Elizabeth, NJ)8:22.36
    64Deptford (Deptford, NJ)8:22.79
    65Oratory (Summit, NJ)8:29.23


    Boys 4x100m Relay

    Three teams advanced to the Northeast Final which will run on Saturday at 4:25pm. 

    Rancocas Valley led all New Jersey teams in the prelim heats with a NJ No. 1 ranked 42.38, 17th overall amongst the 592 teams who recorded a time at Penn.

    Also advancing along with RV was Toms River North, 18th overall at 42.40 NJ No. 2 this season, and Livingston, 26th at 42.57 which is NJ No. 3.

    New Jersey Top 20 4x100m Teams at Penn Relays - Trials


    Girls 4x100m Relay

    The Union Catholic girls ran to ninth in the 4x100m Championship of America with a time of 46.19. Third amongst American teams. 

    In the Northeast final the Timber Creek girls brought home the victory with a time of 46.68. Winslow finishing fifth at 47.96 and Westfield ninth at 49.29.


    Girls 4x400m Relay

    Union Catholic and Timber Creek represented New Jersey in the Championship of America race which saw Hydel of Jamaica go 3:34.78 and Bullis School 3:35.17! 

    Union Catholic was third at 3:41.75, which ranks No. 6 in NJ outdoor history, and Timber Creek was sixth, the third American team in the race, at 3:46.96. 

    In the Philadelphia Area 4x400m the Winslow Township girls got the job done running 3:46.85 for the win.


    Boys Distance Medley Relay

    An awesome duel between New Jersey distance running powerhouses! Christian Brothers Academy won their fourth DMR Championship of America race on Friday with a time of 10:01.47. New Jersey finished 1-2 with Westfield just over two seconds behind at 10:03.62.

    CBA's performance was ninth in New Jersey high school history and Westfield's 15th all-time.

    Ridge was 10th with a 10:19.30 and Ridgewood 12th at 10:19.85.


    Girls Distance Medley Relay

    The Manalapan girls ran to a seventh place finish in the DMR Championship of America on Friday with a time of 12:07.02. 

    A squad featuring Alivia Schweinbinz, Lola Uhl, Madalyn Bacharde, Sadie Honig.

    Pingry School was 11th with a 12:16.83, Pope John XXIII 14th at 12:34.46, and Mainland Regional 15th with 12:36.30.


    Boys Mile

    The lone NJ entry was Alexander Pelov out of Montville Twp who finished 13th clocked at 4:18.97.


    Girls Mile

    Emma Zawatski of Freehold Township ran a hot time of 4:44.60 for a PR and fourth place finish in the mile championship. This race saw eight girls run under 4:50 and the leaders up front went to the line for 4:40 and change! 

    Dylan McElhinney out of New York was the overall champ at 4:40.82.


    Boys 3000m

    Peyton Shute out of Woodbury finished 18th with a time of 8:42.79 and Alex Kemp of CBA was 21st at 8:51.16. 

    The race was won by West Virginia's Ty Steorts who clocked a time of 8:24.77 after taking over the race midway through.


    Girls 3000m

    Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington led New Jersey athletes in the 3K Championship finishing eighth clocking a quick 9:45.66.

    Rosemary Shay of Middletown South 11th with a 9:47.94, Blair Bartlett of Lawrenceville School was 13th at 9:51.74, Cayleigh Kaiser of Union Catholic 16th at 9:53.93, and Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro North was 21st at 10:09.47. 


    Girls 4x800m

    The Union Catholic girls absolutely went off in the 4x800m Championship of America setting a national record time of 8:41.20! This was after UC already had squads finish third in the 4x400m COA and ninth in the 4x100m COA. 

    Rumson Fair-Haven ran to eighth with a time of 9:07.99. 


    Boys Discus

    Benjamin Shue of Bergen Catholic threw 201-11 for second overall and the top American finisher in the discuss. The overall winner was Jamaica's Chad Hendrick's who hit a mark of 217-1. 

    Also representing New Jersey was Shawn Brady of Bishop Eustace Prep throwing 173-8 for sixth overall. Damere Lassiter of Glassboro seventh with 168-2, Brock Schenck of Bordentown eighth with 167-6, and Henry Struble of Pequannock 15th 146-8. 


    Boys Shot Put

    St. Rose senior Joshua Huisman was the top American earning the Penn Relays watch with a mark of 68-0.25. Shaiquan Dunn out of Jamaica College was the overall winner with a throw of 68-0.25. 

    Also representing New Jersey was Jonathan Harris of Delsea with a 58-10.25 and Anthony Liakhnovich of Hammonton in ninth at 57-0.25. 


    Boys High Jump

    Six boys competing in the high jump out of New Jersey and leading the way in fifth was Brian Butler of Piscataway who cleared the 6-06 bar. 

    David Godbolt of Rancocas Valley was sixth with a 6-4 clearance, Lawrence Hicks of Red Bank Regional and Professor Ceo of Manville both seventh also at 6-04 on attempts. 

    Malakai Pressey of Freehold Boro and Tristan McFarlane of CBA were 15th tied at 6-02. 

    The overall winner was Khalil Antoine of Hillhouse High (CT) who cleared 7-0.25. 


    Boy Pole Vault

    New Jersey's Ryan Merlino out of Oakcrest HS was the only local athlete to clear height and he finished fourth with a vault of 15-02.25.

    The winner set a new Penn Relays record, Victor Olesen of St. Christopher's (VA) with a 17-0.25 bar!


    Boys Long Jump

    Liam Paneque of NV Demarest hit a mark of 22-4.25 which was good for fifth. The mark came on his second attempt. 

    Jason Lessieu of Bergen Catholic was 14th at 20-10.75.

    Balvin Israel of Jamaica College won the event with a 23-9.


    Boys Triple Jump

    Daniel Arana of Franklin Township placed sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 46-6. Cartrell Moore of Glassboro 12th at 44-0.75. 

    The winner was Chavez Penn of Jamaica College with a 50-5.50.


    Boys Javelin

    The lone Jersey representative was Manchester Township's Vander McFarland who placed 13th with a 168-9.