PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Their hamstrings were screaming and their tanks were starting to leak some gas, but that didn't stop the Toms River North boys 4x400-meter relay crew from throwing down an electrifying performance at the 129th Penn Relays presented by Toyota on Thursday at legendary Franklin Field in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 27,376, a new day one record.
TRN finished third in their 4x400 heat, and ran the fifth fastest time and second fastest by a U.S team to advance!!! Their time of 3:13.61 broke the Shore Conference mark of 3:14.07 set in 2007 by Monmouth Regional.
The splits for TRN were Mordecai Ford (48.89), Camryn Thomas NJ (47.86), Taysaun Wilson (49.16) and Mamadi Diawara anchored with a 47.26 carry!!!
What makes TRN's performance so amazing is that Ford and Thomas were running their third races of the day!!!! They both had already run on the 4x800 and the 4x100. And Wilson an on the 4x800 earlier. Having 2 guys run three races and another run twice is as old school as it gets!! These guy are throwbacks, doing everything for their team, spilling their buckets on the track over and over and over again!! Ford and Thomas are the definition of warriors!!!
TRN failed to advance to the 4x800 COA and ran 41.92 in the 4x100 trials to advance to Friday Northeast 4x100 Championships, scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
"Yeah, we were on some tired legs and we were hurting, but we came here to make a Championship of America races,'' said Thomas. "So we all ran for each other and refused to let our bodies stop us from doing what we came here to do! It wasn't easy, but we got the job done!''
Unlike last year when they ran the 4x800 COA race, 4x400 COA, and the 4x100 Northeast Championship on the same day, TRN doesn't have any other races to run tomorrow.
"With fresh legs and one race to run, we are ready to go much faster tomorrow,'' said Diawara. "I think we can get down to 3:11!''
Can TRN challenge the favored Bullis School of Maryland, who ran the top time in the trials of 3:11.04, and the Jamaican powerhouses?
After what they did on Thursday, I would never bet against these guys!!
