Penn Relays Preview
Maryland teams will be sending a large contingent of relays and individuals to the Penn Relays this upcoming weekend. Below we will preview the top 5 teams for each relay and some of the individuals who may be in contention for a top finish!
To see all Maryland Relay Entries: Click Here
The times below are from the 2023 outdoor OR 22-23 Indoor seasons.
Oakland Mills and Calvert Hall have produced the top two 400m relay times for the past 2 seasons. While they may not get the chance to be racing head to head at Penn's (Unless they both qualify for COA) they will get a chance to show which team has the superior four-some. Both teams will most likely need to run well under 42 seconds if they would like to qualify for the Championship of America.
Bullis owns the top time in the country currently at 44.67 seconds and will have big goals at Penn Relays racing against the best teams on the East Coast and Jamaica. McDonogh ran 46.64 at the Hopkins Black and Blue invite last week which is MD #2 and US#31. With the Cooper sisters, they have elite legs and will have the ability to qualify for the COA race.
Boys 4x400
Bullis - 3:14
DeMatha - 3:18
Oakland Mills - 3:18
Manchester Valley - 3:19
Henry A Wise - 3:22
When you have a 46-second leg like Bullis does in Quincy Wilson, you will automatically be one of the teams to look out for. Bullis ran 3:14 earlier this season (US#12) at the Flordia Relays and will be looking to creep closer to 3:10. They should be able to qualify for the Championship of America final if they can do that. DeMatha and Oakland Mills have run under 3:20 and will be looking to run close to 3:15 and try to sneak into the COA race. Other top Maryland teams will include Mervo, Wise, and MSJ who will try to run under 3:20!
The Bullis girls currently own the #2 4x400 time in the nation and will be looking to bring home a Penn Relays Wheel. They will have their hands full with some of the other top teams in the country as well as some of the top teams from Jamaica. Bishop McNamara has the ability to run close to 3:50 and look to find a spot in the final as well. Oakland Mills, Spalding, and Urbana will be looking to average under 60 seconds per leg and break the 4:00-minute barrier.
Boys 4x800
DeMatha - 7:55
Winston Churchill - 7:59
Mount Saint Joseph - 8:02
Towson - 8:02
Bishop McNamara - 8:06
Maryland is sending ten 3200-meter relay teams to the Penn's, which is the most in recent memory. Dematha leads all Maryland schools with a 7:55 performance and will look to lower that time in the preliminary rounds. Low 7:50s should be good enough to qualify for the finals. Winston Churchill has run sub 8 and will be looking to eye a spot in the finals as well. The other 3 Maryland schools above will look to break the magic 8:00-minute barrier.
Walter Johnson set a Maryland leading time during the New Balance Indoor National meet running 9:23. If they can run that again, they will have a decent chance to qualify for the Championship of America final. Bishop McNamara, Severna Park, and Hereford will all try to break the 9:30 barrier and look to qualify as well.
Boys DMR
The only Maryland team to qualify was Centennial High School. The Eagles have a great chance of placing high and even contending for the win with their strong 1-2 punch in Antonio Camacho-Bucks and Sebastian Martinez. The Eagles ran 10:12 during the Indoor season and finished 5th at the New Balance Indoor Championships. They did lose their 800m leg on that team, David Herzbeger, to the baseball diamond this spring season but If Camacho-Bucks gets the baton anywhere close to the lead, they will have a chance!
Individuals
Below are Maryland individuals that have the ability to contend for the individual win in their respective events. For a full list of Maryland athletes who qualified individually click here
Long Jump - Malcolm Gray (Riverdale Baptist) - Gray launched a huge 24-6 PR earlier this season, one of the top marks in the nation. He has yet to jump over 22 feet since that jump and will need to in order to place near the top at Penns.
Long Jump - Brody Buffington (Catoctin) - While he has not jumped much this season, the Georgia commit has the ability to jump over 24 feet and contend for the win. Since there are no individual sprint races for high school athletes at Penn's, this may give him the chance to focus solely on his jumping.
Long Jump - Athena Stith (Spalding) - Stith owns the top jump in Maryland this season at 19-1 and will be trying to inch closer to that magic 20-foot barrier. If she can get anywhere close to that she will place near the top!
Triple Jump - Morgan Bridges (Bullis) - Bridges owns the #17 jump in the United States at 40-6.25 and jumped 40-10.0 during the Indoor season. She will be one of the favorites to win this event!
Shot-Put - Chimdy Onoh (Dundalk) - Onoh threw 61-10.5 at the Hopkins Black and Blue Invite last week which puts him 20th in the country currently. If he can throw over 60 at Penn's he should be in the mix to place high!
3000m - Leah Stephens (Good Counsel) - Stephens has shown she is one of the top distance runners in the country this year. She ran 10:03 for 3200 in a solo effort at the Bullis Bulldog Invite 2 weeks ago and will be one of the favorites heading into this race.
