George Kelly and his Christian Brothers Academy teammates will look to win a second straight Championship of America’s Distance Medley Relay title at the Penn Relays on April 27. ERIC SUCAR staff The Penn Relays are a hallowed event in track and field. It is the oldest track and field meet in the country, dating back to 1895. It is held at historic Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
For high school teams, capturing “the wheel,” as the circular Championship of America trophy is referred to, is the pinnacle of outdoor track and field. It means everything.
Last year, Christian Brothers Academy experienced that glory, capturing the Boys High School Distance Medley Relay at Penn. The quartet of George Kelly, Theo Foster, Dan Mykityshyn and Mike Mazzaccaro won the famed trophy in 10:13.04.
The Colts have again qualified for the DMR with Kelly, who ran the lead-off 1,200- meter leg last year, now running the anchor (1,600).
CBAturned in a quick 10:08.08 indoors, winning at the New Jersey Varsity Classic at the Armory in New York City. Tim Gorman (1,200) and Clark Mangini (800) joined veterans Foster (400) and Kelly in that race.
The Colts are the top seeds, followed by a pair of New Jersey teams, St. Benedict’s Prep and Piscataway. St. Benedict’s is anchored by the country’s best distance runner, Edward Cheserek. The boys DMR is April 27.
It has been a special couple of years for the Colts, highlighted by their national cross country championship last December. A successful defense of their Penn Relays crown would rank right up there with that title.
Red Bank Catholic High School’s Lindsey Bellaran, Meghan McMullen and Liana Marzano have all experienced Penn before, and this time around they’d like to produce something memorable.
“They’re seniors and they know what it means to run at Penn and what it’s all about,” said Casey head coach Rob DeFilippis. “It’s going to be exciting.” The trio, along with sophomore Haley Roussell, are competing in the High School Girls Championship of America Distance Medley Relay on April 26. Although not the favorites in a field that includes New York State schools Northshore and Tatnall, De- Filippis gives his foursome a puncher’s chance.
The quartet won the Indoor Eastern States DMR in 11:55.52 in the winter. Bellaran, McMullen and Marzano are as experienced as it comes in big races, and Roussell, a sophomore, proved she was up to the challenge at the Eastern States.
What DeFilippis likes about this team is that they can all close at the end of their run.
“We’ve got wheels in the last 300 meters,” he said.
Bellaran will run the opening 1,200- meter leg. Her job is to be with the leaders at the first exchange. She will hand the baton to Roussell for her 400-meter leg, a very underrated leg of the relay. Roussell must hold her position to set the Caseys up for the final two legs — McMullen’s 800 and Marzano’s 1,600 anchor.
McMullen and Marzano, like their teammates, are in fine form. DeFilippis said he expects Marzano to do something special (she won the indoor NJSIAA MOC 1,600 title in February).
“We’re better than we were [at Eastern States],” noted DeFilippis.
Last year, with the graduated Molly Mc- Namara running the anchor on the team that included Marzano (1,200), McMullen (400) and Bellaran (800), the Caseys were fifth (11:53.17). They’d like to improve on that, at the very least
The RBC boys would like to make some noise of their own in the 4×800 relay on April 27. Marc Cenicola, Connor McNamara, Rob Napolitano and Charley Rooney make up the quartet that qualified for Penn with their 8:02.68 run at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March. Cenicola and Rooney are seniors, Napolitano is a junior, and McNamara’s a sophomore.
DeFilippis expects his team to be under 8:00. If they can knock their time down to the neighborhood of 7:53 or 7:54, they could run a top-12 time that would advance them to the Championship of America 4×800 on April 28.
Holmdel’s boys also qualified for the 4×800, and that’s a big deal for Hornet track. The quartet of Eric Williams, Jack Baisley, Brian Colella and Andrew Tsai ran an 8:10.72 at the Holmdel Twilight Series Penn Relays Qualifier to dip in under the 8:15 qualifying time and secure its bid to the country’s biggest meet.
The Penn Relays (April 26-28) aren’t all about teams, however. Three area athletes have qualified for individual events. They are CBA’ Bill Bragg (3,000), Raritan’s Jessica Helmstetter (javelin) and St. John Vianney’s Andrea McKenna (shot put).
Bragg, an important member of CBA’s record-setting national cross country championship team, has a personal best of 9:21.22 for the longer 3,200 distance. He will run the 3K on April 27.
The Rockets’ Helmstetter has continued Raritan’s tradition in the javelin that includes Cindy Robinson and Amanda Harmatta, who both competed at Penn. The junior has finished first at the Husky and Holmdel relays this spring and has a personal best of 124-6. The girls javelin competition is April 26.
McKenna, a senior at SJV, has an outdoor best this spring of 38-5 ½, which she did in winning the New Jersey Catholic Conference earlier this year. McKenna’s personal best in the shot put is the 41-8 ½ she threw during the indoor season. She is also competing on April 26.