4x400m Relay Preview
If the 4x100 is titled the most dominated and the 4x800 is the most up for grabs, the 2025 4x400s would be titled the biggest races in Penn Relays history.
This is the one event where it will almost certainly take a record to win and that is in no small part thanks to the Bullis School (MD) running 3:09 and 3:35 already this year. Oh yeah, they ran those times indoors!
Kingston College has emerged as the Jamaican favorite on the boys side after they clocked a 3:07.46 at Champs while Calabar (3:08.60) and Jamaica College (3:08.61) are also very much in the conversation.
KC's top two runners, Tajh-Marques White and Marcinho Rose, went 1-2 at Champs running 45.84 and 45.90 respectively.
One of the most interesting and important aspects of this year's 4x400 is the reversal of the schedule. Normally, boys teams would need to run twice on Saturday but this year with things being flipped, the boys will have 24 hours of rest between prelims and finals. This should spell more "A" runners running in the prelims.
Kingston College is running for their fourth title in a row.
On the girls side it is very hard to pick anyone but Hydel. They are the Jamaican national champions having run 3:33.88 at Champs and three-time defending Penn Relays Champions as well.
Hydel is led by Abigail Campbell the two-time Jamaican Champion over 400m. She has run 52.27 for that distance. Campbell has serious company though with underclassmen Nastassia Fletcher (52.82) and Sashanna Johnson (54.08) having gone 1-2 in the Class 2 Champs final for Hydel.
If this race was just a one-time final it would be impossible to pick anyone other than Hydel but the opposite is happening for the girls with the changed schedule. This year the girls will need to run twice on Saturday meaning the deeper your roster, the better you run.
Hydel has depth, they should be fine, but this certainly helps Holmwood and Edwin Allen as who both have amazing 4x8 squads. This extra range gives them a little more options on running in the prelims to be fresh for the same-day final.