PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Union Catholic girls took care of business and dropped the fastest time, Rumson-Fair Haven made history, and Cherokee got what it came for when the three New Jersey teams charged into the 4x800-meter relay Championship of America race on Friday at the 127th Penn Relays presented by Toyota at historic Franklin Field.
Union Catholic, Rumson-Fair Haven and Cherokee will run in the 12-team Championship of America race on Saturday at 4:45 p.m.
UC got things rolling by running a very comfortable 9:11.26 to win its qualifying heat by a huge margin.
Edwin Allen of Jamaica, seeking a third straight title, ran 9:17.28, the second fastest time of the day.
Union Catholic, fifth in 2018, second in 2019, and third last year, will head into the C of A race with its best shot to win the first wheel in the history of its girls program.
The lineup for UC consisted of senior Mameyeaa Nyinah (2:17.39), freshman Jimmiea King (2:19.68), senior Kaleigh Gunsiorowski (2:13.56), and senior Peyton Hollis (2:20.64).
Nyinah, King, Gunsiorowski, and Hollis all ran on the 4x800 here last year.
"We came here this year to win the wheel and we feel good about our chances tomorrow,'' said Gunsiorowski. "I know we can all run faster, and we will be ready for the challenge.''
The last NJ team to win was in 2014 when Columbia won its second straight title.
Rumson's Isabella Rodriguez (2:23.41), Julia Shanes (2:21.14), Clemmie Lilley (2:18.13), and Sarah Grace Butler (2:20.73) put themselves in the history book at Rumson by qualifying for the C of A 4x800 race for the first time in school history. Rumson ran 9:22.29 to place third in its heat.
"This is something we've been thinking about and working toward for a long time, so it means a lot to us to advance,'' said Lilley. "We just missed our school record by .2, so that's something that we hope to break tomorrow.
Cherokee, which ran 9:23.45 to place third in its heat, has been waiting for this day since Kelsey Niglio got tripped up on the first lap in the 4x800 C of A race last year.
"I've had a few flashbacks about that, but it was good to back out on this track and get a clean slate and get back to the final,'' said Niglio.
Niglio, who led off on Friday in 2:17.93, was joined by Kerry O'Day (2:18.31), Maddie Meder (2:26.62), and Megan Niglio (2:20.60), Kelsey's sister.