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On Sunday at the Girls NJSIAA Meet of Champions Union Catholic found themselves trailing by a large margin late in the 4x400 meter, an event which Union Catholic has won at this competition the past two years.
That's when it comes in handy to have an Olympian anchoring your relay, as seen in the video above Sydney McLaughlin took the baton behind with a lot of ground to make up in second. It wasn't until heading into the final turn that she made contact with first place and powered forward from there to seal the victory.
In the end McLaughlin threw down a magnificent 51.8 split and helped the team secure a NJ#1 US#7 time of 3:50.82. The squad consisted of two freshmen and two seniors: Leena Morant FR 59.3, Cassandra Lamadieu SR 59.3, Felicia Quainoo FR 60.0, and Sydney McLaughlin SR 51.8.
She also competed in the open 400 meter earlier this meet running a new John Bennett Indoor Complex facility record and meet record of 53.17 US#1, and that is on a flat track. This is a great sign for McLaughlin's upcoming Nationals run, she already holds the national record at 51.84.
Girls 4x400 Meter Relay Top 8 ============================================================================ School Seed Finals H# ============================================================================ Finals 1 Union Catholic Reg. HS 'A' 3:55.26 3:50.82 7 1) 1284 Morant, Leena 9 2) 1286 Quainoo, Felicia 9 3) 1279 Lamadieu, Cassandra 12 4) 1283 McLaughlin, Sydney 12 2 Winslow Twp HS 'A' 3:57.53 3:51.49 7 1) 2505 Williams, Iyianna 12 2) 1346 Ahiarakwe, Flora 11 3) 1348 Hammond, Janeya 9 4) 1347 Dancy, Shakira 11 3 Rancocas Valley Reg HS 'A' 3:58.11 3:56.92 7 1) 1106 Taylor, Aliyah 11 2) 1101 Minus-Vincent, Darynn 10 3) 1102 Nance, Sydne 12 4) 1103 Nuss, Shauna 10 4 West Essex 'A' 3:59.19 4:00.29 7 1) 1314 Blum, Hailey 12 2) 1319 Richards, Reanda 11 3) 1317 Karch, Gabriela 11 4) 1318 Perez, Alexia 11 5 Rumson-Fair Haven HS 'A' 4:04.79 4:01.38 6 1) 1166 Orr, Lily 9 2) 1163 MacGillis, Kaitlyn 11 3) 1160 Devlin, Campbell 10 4) 1162 Hofferber, Grace 12 6 Northern Highlands Reg. HS 'A' 4:03.59 4:01.75 6 1) 1000 Florio, Olivia 12 2) 1001 Healy, Elizabeth 10 3) 1007 Smiechowski, Grace 9 4) 1004 Krawczyk, Kyla 9 7 Lenape Reg. HS 'A' 4:02.31 4:01.91 7 1) 903 Duffield, Dana 12 2) 906 Lambert, Shannon 12 3) 910 Whetstone, Shelby 10 4) 908 Quimby, Megan 12 8 Timber Creek 'A' 4:02.84 4:02.01 6 1) 1254 Starnes, Adia 12 2) 1251 Hooker, Tierra 9 3) 1255 Starnes, Kai 12 4) 1253 Sovae-Beattie, Cheyenne 12