New Jersey ruled the sprint medley relays at the New Balance National Championships on Friday by sweeping the titles at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
The Union Catholic girls really leveled up by dropping some huge bombs when they put two teams on the podium, had three teams in the top seven and smashed the state record!!! How incredible is that!!! And Morris Knolls received a monster anchor from Luke Schagelin to edge Union Catholic to win the boys SMR!!
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UC DELIVERS EPIC SMR TRIFECTA
In the girls SMR, junior Taylor Cox, junior Taylor Aska, freshman Rhia Randolph, and freshman Paige Sheppard combined to run 3:54.62 to give Union Catholic the title, a new state record and the fifth fastest time in U.S. high school indoor history.
The former NJ state record in the girls SMR was 3:57.19, set by Columbia when it finished first at the 2014 New Balance National Championships at the New York Armory.
Cox and Aska combined to run 49.49 on their 200 legs, Robinson split 55.55 for 400, and Sheppard finished it off with a 2:09.60 carry.
UC also had a team finish third in the SMR in 3:59.99, No. 3 in sate history, and 4:02.80, No. 7 in state history.
That's right, UC had 12 girls on three different SMR teams run three of the fastest seven times in NJ history!!! How crazy is that!!!
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KNOLLS THROWS DOWN HISTORIC SMR
Morris Knolls knew it had it had a loaded lineup that could contend for a top spot in the boys SMR, but it had a very difficult challenge.
Running out front with no one to chase in the second of the 12 sections, Morris Knolls had to drop a super fast time and just hope that no one could go faster in the faster heats.
That's exactly what happened as Knolls burned a 3:28.38, No. 6 in state history, and anxiously watched as no team was able to beat their time. Union Catholic came close in the final heat, running 3:29.15, No. 13 in state history, to place second overall and give NJ a 1-2 finish!
The lineup for Morris Knolls (they are pictured above in the middle) was Greg Palma and Elijah Bastos, who combined to run 45.74 for their 200 legs, Tyler Spillane (50.68 for 400), and then Schagelin, the NJ Meet of Champions 800 winner, threw down a nasty 1:51.96!!!!