PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Rumson girls turned their frustration into jubilation on Saturday when they broke their school record and finished fifth in the 4x800 Championship of America race at the 129th Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field.
This was the third straight COA appearance for Rumson's 4x800 squad, and this was their highest finish as the foursome of Izzy Rodriguez, Reese Malone, Cassedy Stypul, and Clemmie Lilley ran 9:04.11 and earned medals for placing fifth overall and second among American teams in the 12-team race. Rumson's former school record was the 9:04.48 it ran in the trials at Penn last year.
Cherokee, making their third appearance in four years, ran a very strong race, placing eighth in a school outdoor record 9:13.67. IMG Academy of Florida won the race in 8:40.51.
After running 9:08.76 in the 4x800 trials on Friday, the Rumson quartet wasn't very happy, feeling they didn't race as smart as they could have. So they hot the track on Saturday with something to prove. And they made a strong statement by slicing four seconds off that time and being in the race, unlike they were in 2023 when they placed 11th and last year when they finished eighth.
In the COA race, Rodriguez ran much more aggressively and cut sis seconds off her split from Friday as she ran 2:16.40. Malone, who switched to the second leg after running third Friday, ripped a 2:10.69, Stypul, running juts her 4th 800 ever, followed with a 2:27.71, and Lilley finished it off with 2:09.33 carry. Moving Malone to the second leg proved to be very wise as she kept Rumson close to the lead.
"This is a huge win for us," said Lilley. "We've never been able to stay with the field in the Championship of America. It's it's always been a bit too quick. So to be able to stay with this incredible field and place fifth was awesome."
Malone said Rumson definitely had something to prove.
"Proving ourselves today was a big deal," Malone said. "The past couple years we haven't been able to improve in the final. This year, we definitely had a mindset change. We knew we were better than what we've shown, and we showed that."
For Cherokee, who advanced to the COA for the third time in four years (fourth in 2022 and sixth in 2023), Alyssa Suriano (2:17.61), Megan Niglio (2:20.77), Sofia Recinto (2:17.31) and Maddie Meder (2:17.99) combined to break the school record of 9:14.25.
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