PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The UC vs. IMG, Part 3 lived up to the hype as the two powerhouses once again waged a memorable showdown on Saturday in the 4x800 Championship of America race in the driving rain at the 130th Penn Relays on Saturday at historic Franklin Field.
Just like their two epic duels indoors, Union Catholic was simply too strong for their rivals from Florida as the juggernaut from New Jersey finished off their victory with another clutch anchor from Ciaran Brosnan, who brought the Vikings across first in 7:41.14. IMG was second in 7:42.71. Hackensack, making their first 4x800 COA appearance ever, finished third in 7:48.87.
The victory completed a rare double for Union Catholic. With the UC girls winning the DMR on Friday (a meet record 11:24.26), the Vikings became the first NJ program to win a boys' and girls' wheel in the same year since Plainfield swept the boys' and girls' 4x400 in 1981 and are just the fourth U.S. school to ever win a boys' and girls' wheel in the same year!
As expected, the boys' 4x800 came right down to the wire.
Brosnan had IMG anchor Hayden Bearden right on his heels the entire anchor leg until Brosnan slammed on the gas as he hit the top of the final straight and then hammered his way to the finish, smashing the tape with his baton and letting out a roar and raising his arms in triumph as he crossed the line.
Brosnan was then mobbed by teammates Elijah McCoy, Quintin Clemons, and Keandre Kelly as the celebrated and soaked in the moment.
As Brosan and Clemons walked off the track, they were overcome with emotion.
"I just love the guys on my team so much,'' said the University of Virginia-bound Brosnan. "This is something we've been buidling toward for a long time.''
"When we're on the track, it's really just a straight mindset and what we want to do and what we want to accomplish," Clemons said. "I just have a lot of faith in my teammates, and I know this is their last year and my goal is to just give them a great last season. I'm going to miss my dogs, and I was so emotional because I'm not gonna see them again for a while after they graduate."
This is the second wheel at the Penn Relays for the UC boys, who won the DMR in 2022 with Shane Brosnan on anchor, Ciaran's brother.
"It's crazy to see him do it four years ago and then come here and do it," Bronsan said. "It's honestly just insane. It's hard to wrap my mind around it."
UC won both indoor showdowns with IMG of Florida by less than a second. At the Millrose Games in New York, UC was first in 7:37.96 and IMG was second in 7:38.47. In their rematch at the New Balance National Championships in Boston, UC smashed the national indoor record with a winning time of 7:35.05 and IMG was second again in 7:35.28, No. 2 all-time in U.S. indoor history.
"This honestly means so much," Bronsan said. "Nationals is Nationals, but there's only one Penn Relays. This is the championship of high school track. It's such a crazy experience to come out here and end up on top with the wheel. I knew my boys were gonna have to go to war."
McCoy, a senior, set the tone right away for UC, running a strong opening leg of 1:56.00 and he handed off to Clemons in the lead, a half step ahead of IMG's Jose Cedeno. Clemons, a junior, ran a gutsy 1:53.19 second leg as he stayed right with IMG's Matthew Dodds, which was one of the biggest keys to victory. Dodds, IMG's strongest runner, split 1:52.60 to give his team the lead, but he couldn't open a gap on Clemons, who stuck right on him.
"My goal when I got the baton was to try and get out as hard as I could and stay with the IMG kid because he had caught up to me a little bit," Clemons said. "I had to stay with him and not let him get away too far so I can get Keandre into the great position."
Clemons executed his race plan perfectly, setting the table for Kelly, a sub 1:50 half miler.
Kelly, a senior, was just .80 behind when he got the stick, and he wasted no time putting UC ahead to stay when he blasted by IMG's Lucas Brighty right when he got the stick and opened a 40-meter gap. Kelly split 1:56.75 and Brighty, who was able to cut into that lead before the final handoff, went 1:57.60.
Kelly gave the baton to Brosnan with a slight lead of .64.
Bearden did all he could to stay on Brosnan, but the UC anchor refused to give up the lead and used his superior kick to seal the deal.
"I feel that I trust myself a lot and these guys trust me to bring it home for us when it really matters," Bronsan said. "I think I'm a really good person to do that."
Hackensack, running their first COA race since they finished ninth in the DMR in 1993, ran a great race to get third. Devin DeCambre led off for the Comets in 1:58.51. Seven Garcia went 1:54.20, Dustin DeCambre followed with a 1:58.44 and Michael McGinnity anchored in 1:57.74.
