PHILADELPHIA -- The Ridge boys have heard all the whispers about how they had a better chance of winning the distance medley relay than the 4x800 relay at the 126th Penn Relays.
But they never cared about what everyone else thought. They had their own reasons for choosing the 4x800, and one of them was because they felt chasing the heavily favored Jamaica College squad from Jamaica in Saturday's 4x800 Championship of America race would pull them to a fast time.
They were right.
With Jamaica College all alone way out in front on its way to a dominate victory in 7:28.38, the third fastest time in meet history, Ridge senior Jackson Barna dropped a 1:53.08 anchor leg and outdueled West Springfield of Virginia to bring his team across the line in second-place in 7:41.59 in front of 38,843 sun-drenched fans at historic Franklin Field.
By finishing as the top American team, the Ridge runners received prestigious gold watches. This was the second appearance for Ridge in a C of A race. They finished 11th in the 4x800 in 2019.
The 14-team race featured three NJ teams.
Westfield, with senior Charlie Stock throwing down a 1:52.78 anchor, finished a very strong fourth in a school record 7:49.02, and Chatham also broke it school record by running 7:54.33 to place ninth. The Chatham's former school was 7:56.7.
It was Westfield's first C of A appearance since running in the 4x800 in 1997, while Chatham was making its C of A debut.
Ridge left everything they had on the track.
"Jamaica College is an all-time great team and we knew we were big underdogs,'' said junior Patrick Doran, who ran a 1:57.89 third leg. "So getting second to them and running 7:41 is nothing to be ashamed of. We are very happy with how we ran, and to get these gold watches means a lot to us.''
Barna, who got the baton in third place behind Jamaica College and West Springfield, said all he was thinking about on his anchor leg was getting those watches.
"All I was thinking about was beating them (West Springfield) so we can win these watches,'' said the Georgetown-bound Barna, who won the 3,200 at the outdoor Meet of Champions last spring.
Getting back to the DMR vs. 4x800 choice, Ridge would have been the slight favorite on paper in the DMR based on the fact that they broke the national record in that race when they finished first in 9:53.40 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March. Union Catholic, who won the DMR here on Friday in 10:14.42, was second to Ridge at NB Nationals in 9:55.12, No. 3 in U.S. indoor history. Ridge also won the 4x800 at the NB Nationals in March, running 7:42.89, 18 seconds slower than what Jamaica College
"The 4x800 has always been our race,'' said senior Andrew McCabe, who led off for Ridge 1:56.57. "We won the 4x800 at the Outdoor Nationals a few years ago (2019) and again last year, so we wanted to go after it again.''
Even after seeing the result of Friday's DMR, no one on the Ridge squad had any regrets about their decision to run the 4x800.
"Maybe we would have won (the DMR) and maybe we wouldn't have,'' said senior James Kisker, who ran a 1:54.05 second leg. "But after running a race like we just ran, there are no regrets. We have a reputation in the 4x800. We have won national titles indoors and outdoors and at the Millrose Games in the 4x800. This is the only one we haven't gotten, so we gave it our best shot and came away with these watches. So we are happy with our decision and what we did here.''
While most eyes were focused up front in this race, Westfield was putting together its greatest 4x800 race ever!!!
With Stock waiting to blast his red hot anchor leg, the key for Westfield was to have its first three runners put together strong races to give Stock a shot to pick off some teams and give the Blue Devils that sub 7:50 it was chasing.
And that's exactly what happened as the Blue Devils, despite having to make a lineup change, put together a masterpiece.
Senior Conor Daly led off with a solid 1:58.9, right around his PR. Sophomore Avery Keith, doubling back from the 3K on Friday because usual 4x800 leg, sophomore Jimmy Gildea, was making is confirmation, ran a PR of 2:00.9. Then junior Jonathan Scalia, who gave up volleyball to run this spring, threw down a huge PR of 1:55.38, two seconds faster than he ran indoors and eight seconds faster than what he ran in the trials on Friday!!!! What a run by Scalia, who rolled up five teams to give the baton to Stock in 7th place!!!
Stock picked off another 3 teams in the first 200, and finished off the memorable performance by the Blue Devils with his 1:52.78, the fastest split of the race by an American runner, to bring Westfield across the fourth in 7:49.02. Westfield, which earned medals for their performance, broke their school record of 7:50.2 that the Blue Devils, with the great Matt Elmuccio, on the anchor, ran at the 1997 East Coast Relays.
Westfield dropped its time from the trials (7:59.45) to the finals by more than 10 seconds!!!!
Chris Tafelski, the head boys coach at Westfield, said nerves kept times slower in the trials.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Ridge boys have heard all the whispers about how they had a better chance of winning the distance medley relay than the 4x800 relay at the 126th Penn Relays.