PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Excelsior High, defending champions Kingston College (KC), Bishop McNamara, and Bullis School appear poised to vie for the High School Boys’ 4x400m Championships of America title at the 128th staging of the Penn Relays following strong showings in the preliminaries at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus on Saturday.
The final is set to start at 4:40 pm Jamaica time.
Excelsior, seeking their first 4x400m Championships of America title, topped the qualifiers with a time of 3:14.35 seconds in chilly conditions. The Mountain View-based school triumphed in their preliminary round heat, narrowly edging out their Jamaican counterpart and three-time champion KC, which posted a time of 3:14.64, the third-fastest across the heats. KC will seek their third major 4x400m title this year, having secured victories at the Gibson Relays and the Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.
Bishop McNamara High School from Maryland claimed victory in their heat with a time of 3:14.35, identical to Excelsior’s, but secured advancement as the second-fastest.
A rapid final leg split of 44.37 seconds by Quincy Wilson propelled Bullis School to a time of 3:14.84, marking the fourth-fastest qualifying time.
Two additional Jamaican schools have secured spots in the final. They include four-time champion Jamaica College (3:16.42) and St Elizabeth Technical High School (3:17.10).
Calabar High, the most successful school in the event with 10 titles, were eliminated after recording a time of 3:17.72.
Jamaican high schools have maintained a stronghold on this event over the years. The most recent American school to secure victory was Long Beach Poly from California in 2007.
Excelsior High are also the fastest qualifier in the High School Boys’ 4x100m Championship of America, which is scheduled to begin at 1:28 pm Jamaica time. They emerged as the favorite to continue Jamaica’s dominance in the event after a dominant 40.62 seconds in their preliminary round heat on Friday, establishing themselves as the sole team to break the 41-second barrier in the heats.
Six other Jamaican schools advanced to the final. Herbert Morrison recorded the second-fastest qualifying time of 41.26, followed by Kingston College (KC) at 41.30, and St Jago High at 41.35. Also advancing are St George’s College (41.42), Calabar (41.70), and defending champions Jamaica College (41.73).
The last American high school team to win the event was Glanville High of Ohio in 2004.
