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

• Union Catholic Smashes National 4x800 Record At Penn Relays
• CBA Wins DMR At The Penn Relays, Westfield Places Second
• NJ's Murphy And Dolan Win Another Wheel for Villanova
• Huisman Finishes As Top American In Shot Put At Penn Relays
• Shue Second Overall, Top American in Discus at Penn Relays
• NJ Boys Advance Three 4x800m Teams To Penn Relays COA
• New Jersey's Day 1 Thursday Highlights at Penn Relays

Boys 4x800m Relay

• Feature Article: NJ Advances Three 4x800m Teams to COA
• Interview: Cherokee 4x800m Squad
• Interview: Toms River North 4x800m Squad

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. 

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

• Interview: Union Catholic 4x100m Squad

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

• Interview: Union Catholic 4x400m Squad
• Interview: Winslow Township 4x400m Squad

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

• Related Feature: CBA Wins DMR, Westfield Places Second
• Interview: CBA's Winning DMR Squad

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

• Feature: Union Catholic Smashes National 4x800m Record
• Interview: Union Catholic 4x800m Squad

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

• Feature: Shue Second Overall, Top American in Discus
• Interview: Ben Shue of Bergen Catholic

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

• Feature: Huisman Finishes as Top American in Shot Put
• Interview: Josh Huisman of St. Rose

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.