Maryland Thursday Highlights From Penn Relays: Bullis Girls 3:46 Top 4x400 Qualifiers!

Apr 29, 2016

DuVal's Maddie Akobondu had plenty of rainwater to shake off for each of her leaps in the girls long jump on Thursday at the Penn Relays, which she placed 2nd overall. (Photo by Don Rich)

Maryland highlights below from Thursday's events at the 2016 Penn Relays. Make sure to upgrade to MileSplit Universal, so can access and watch all races LIVE and archived from the Penn Relays on Flotrack.

Girls 400m Hurdles

Digital Harbor's Tylar Colbert, the lone Maryland entrant accepted into the event, finished 21st overall with a time of 1:07.48.

Girls 4x800m Relay Qualifying Heats

The Damascus girls ran a state leading time of 9:31.95 to finish fifth in the second heat of the 4x800 qualifying heats in the morning. The 3A state indoor champs had fairly even splits from Samantha Kameka (2:22), Juliana Ancalmo (2:23), Heather Delaplaine (2:24), and Melissa Kameka (2:21). Meanwhile, the previous state leaders from Walter Johnson improved upon their season best time with a 9:36.89 effort in the following heat.

Girls 4x100m Relay Qualifying Heats

Private schools Bullis School, Elizabeth Seton and Bishop McNamara all qualified for the small schools Finals on Friday in the 4x100 meter relay as they both won their qualifying heats on Thursday with solid times of 47.89 for Bullis in heat 36, 47.97 for Seton in heat 47.97, and 48.33 for McNamara in 48.33. Riverdale Baptist was not far off from joining them in the small schools 4x100 finals with their 48.35 victory in heat 38.

The Bullis Girls were the top qualifiers for the Championship of America finals with a 3:46.31 performance in the prelims. (Photo by Robert Kellert)

Girls 4x400m Relay Qualifying Heats

The Bullis School girls ran the fastest time among all the qualifying heats of the 4x400's on Thursday with a remarkable US #10 3:46.31 effort in a competitive heat against top relays from Virginia and Jamaica. They will head into Friday's Championship of America finals with a great shot of hoisting up a Penn Relays wheel with a lineup that included splits of 57.98 for Mya Gau, 56.05 for Masai Russell, 56.69 for Lauryn Harris, and 55.60 for Sierra Leonard.

Next fastest Maryland schools at the Penn Relays in the girls 4x400 were C.H. Flowers at 3:55.27, Damascus at 4:00.07, and Henry Lackey at 4:00.73.

Girls 3000m Run

Three from Maryland competed in the girls 3K with Annapolis junior Maria Coffin leading the way with a 8th place finishing time of 9:48.41 followed by Walter Johnson's Abbey Green in 17th place at 9:59.99 and Oakland Mills' Brit Lang in 18th place at 10:02.81. Coffin's time would convert to a personal best of 10:31 at 3200 meters for the 2015 Foot Locker finalist.

Girls Distance Medley Relay

The Paint Branch girls ran just off their season best time in the DMR finishing 13th at the Penn Relays with a time of 12:18.37. Beth Taye anchored the relay with a 5:04 split on the 1600 meter leg.

Girls Long Jump

Maryland went 2-3 in the girls long jump with DuVal's Madeleine Akobundu as the top American in the event with a leap of 18'3" for second place on a rainy day on the runaway, while Riverdale Baptist's Taylor Woods went 18'2.25" for third place. Neither mark was close to their personal bests to showcase the difficulty of jumping at the Penn Relays in Thursday's conditions.

Girls Triple Jump

Randallstown's Tre'j Johnson led the quarter of Maryland competitors in the girls long jump with a 11th place finishing mark of 37'8.50". Huntingtown's Harleigh White (12th, 37'6"), Northwest's Taylor Wright (17th, 35'5.25"), and Clarksburg's Alexus Pyles (18th, 34'4.75") all struggled to perform close to their personal best marks in the event in the less than ideal cold and rainy weather conditions.

Girls Discus Throw

Seasons Usual of Frederick Douglass-PG took over the state leaderboard in the girls discus last week with a throw of 138'4" at the McNamara Mustangs Invite and she extended that state lead at the Penn Relays. Usual threw for a personal best mark of 140 feet even to place 8th overall in the 18 competitor field. Franklin's Amanda Murphy (12th, 125'6"), and C.H. Flowers' Daiysa Burrell (16th, 118'2") also competed in the discus at Penn Relays from Maryland.