Girls Discus: Lightning delays have cause headaches and affected performances on Friday at Penn Relays pushing back many events to be contested later. However, one event is already competed in the girls discus throw as Park View junior Natalie Baird (pictured above by Don Rich of penntrackxc.com) is now a two-time Penn Relays champion in the discus throw. Baird was third in the event going into the finals, but came through with her best throw of 148'4" in the clutch to win. The meet is currently about 2:10 behind schedule this afternoon due to th earlier delays.
Boys 4x800: The poor weather this morning affected the times in the 4x800 meter relay greatly this time as the fastest time was only 7:55. Forest Park boys were eight seconds slower than their 7:55 two weeks ago at Gus Lacy as they finished third in their section with a time of 8:03.81, but the adverse conditions showed in the slower times as Forest Park beat two solid teams in Eleanor Roosevelt MD (8:05.16) and Gonzaga DC (8:07.92) in the process. Eleanor Roosevelt boys were NIN winners in the event.
Boys 4x100 Qualifying Heats: I.C. Norcom looks to have just missed the Championships of America finals as now the boys' 4x400 meter relay is the final hope for Virginia to have at least one relay make into top finals race. I.C. Norcom had the fastest 4x100 on the day from Virginia with their small schools heat #20 win of 42.26. A total of 7 Virginia schools were heat winners at Penn Relays with four in the large schools heats of the 4x100 meter relay in Deep Creek (Heat #7, 42.34), Bethel (Heat #1, 42.64), Western Branch (Heat #29, 43.00), and Oakton (Heat #20, 43.50). Meanwhile, Woodside (Heat #29, 43.39) and Booker T. Washington (Heat #28, 43.91) won in the small schools heats along with I.C. Norcom. In Saturday's final will be I.C. Norcom in the small schools finals and Bethel and Deep Creek in the large schools finals.
Qualifiers for Saturday's finals:
Event 227 Championship of America
2 H Holmwood Technical JA
3 G South Shore NY
4 F Jamaica College JA
5 E Kingston College JA
6 A Calabar JA
7 B St. Jago JA
8 C Camperdown JA
9 D Wolmer's Boys' JA
Event 225 Small Schools
2 H Jack Hayward BA
3 G DuVal MD
4 F Clan Carthy JA
5 E Howard MD
6 A I.C. Norcom VA
7 B Delsea Regional NJ
8 C El Dorado TRI
9 D Herbert Morrison JA
ALT I Ardenne JA
ALT J Cornwall College JA
Event 226 Large Schools
2 H Trenton Central NJ
3 G Willingboro NJ
4 F Mannings JA
5 E Bethel VA
6 A Deep Creek VA
7 B Camden NJ
8 C Irvington NJ
9 D Altoona Area PA
ALT I Westlake MD
ALT J Western Branch VA
Girls 4x100 Large Schools Finals: With five of the eight teams in the finals of the large schools girls 4x100, the odds were in Virginia's favor to have at the race winner and it was Landstown, who just missed making the Championships of America finals by a thousandth of a second in yesterday's qualifying heats, as the decisive winner here in a state best time of 47.08. Rounding out the Virginia finishers in the finals were Deep Creek (3rd, 47.76), Western Branch (4th, 48.10), Bethel (5th, 48.30), and Osbourn Park (7th, 48.56).
Boys Mile Run: Washington-Lee senior Chris Tyson had a great race in the mile run at Penn Relays to finish sixth overall with a big personal time of 4:13.64, which would convert to a state leading 1600 meter time of 4:12.04. Tyson improved by five seconds from his All-American run in the mile at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York this past March.
Boys 3K: Mike Spooner of West Springfield ran three seconds faster than he did in 2006 at Penn Relays and 10 seconds faster than he did as a sophomore in his third appearance at Penn Relays. Spooner finished sixth in the race with a time of 8:33.10, which converts roughly to a 9:10 3200 meter time. Fellow Virginians Bradshaw Kenimer of T.C. Williams (14th, 8:41.36) and Paul Norland of Thomas Jefferson (15th, 8:43.70) finished close together, which would be 3200 meter personal best converted times for both at 9:19 and 9:22 respectively.