Pennsauken girls track sets a New Jersey record in the 4x100 meters at the Penn Relays

You could find plenty of winning teams around Franklin Field on Friday, from heats to finals. But if you were looking for the happiest team on the track, Pennsauken’s girls 4x100-meter team became a winner despite finishing third in the Championship of America.

The quartet of Summer Schaffer, Sanaya Dupree, Olivia Dupree, and Sianni Wynn set a New Jersey record with their time of 45.30 seconds, with Wynn overtaking two rivals on the anchor leg.

“Honestly, this is, like, [one of] the peak three experiences of my life,” Schaffer said. “I never thought I’d be here, and here I am with the best girls. So I’m just so happy – I feel so proud of myself, so proud of my team, so proud of our coaches. It’s a great day.”

No matter that Jamaica’s Edwin Allen High School crushed the field for its second straight title and 11th all-time, the second-most of any school in Relays history. Pennsauken achieved its own feat, and the runners were thrilled. When their time was confirmed, they let out a scream of joy that bounced from the lanes to the scoreboard wall.

“This is a dream come true,” said Wynn, who won the New Balance nationals title in the 100 meters at Franklin Field last June. “ I never thought I would get the chance to run in a Championship of America ever in high school. So to do it especially with my teammates …”

She stopped there for a moment as tears welled up.

» READ MORE: Newtown’s Sanaa Hebron, daughter of ex-Eagle Vaughn, sets a Penn Relays hurdles record

Wynn is not a new name among track scouts. She won three sprint titles at the 2018 Junior Olympic national championships, including a 400-meter time that broke a 24-year-old record.

But she called this the biggest moment of her career to date, with a little extra hometown flavor from being on the track at Franklin Field. Pennsauken was the first Philadelphia-area team to reach the girls’ 4x100-meter Championship of America since 2017.

“I mean, it means everything — we live 15 minutes from here, so of course it’s kind of like our home turf” Wynn said. “Honestly, you can’t even be mad at a third place [finish] when you’re running against Jamaican teams and other teams from other states. … I’m actually thrilled that we got to experience this."

A day after recording the fastest time in the high school girls’ 4x800-meter heats, Penn Charter finished second to a dominant IMG Academy. But similar to Pennsauken, the consolation prize was a new state record in the event with a time of 8:49.73.

The previous record had stood since 2014, Central Bucks South’s 8:51.49 at the state championships.

“Yesterday, we didn’t really have competition – we wanted to go out there and try our best,” Penn Charter’s second-leg runner Marlie Klein said. “Today was a lot different because we had a lot more competitive of a field. IMG, in second place [behind them], we always run against them at nationals, so they’re always pushing us.”

Indeed, Penn Charter knows best that IMG is a force in the 4x800. This was the program’s second straight title in the event, and last year it also won the Millrose Games, indoor national, and outdoor national titles.

Third-leg runner Mackenzie Skelly is a freshman who last year broke national midlde school records in the 3,000 meters, mile, and two-mile. She helped close the gap, even if there was still too much to close overall, and no doubt many more opportunities await her at future Relays.

» READ MORE: Marco Langon anchors Villanova to a second-place finish in the college men’s DMR

“It wasn’t easy, it was definitely hard,” she said. “I knew that I had a bunch of strength and enough speed to catch them. And it’s just a huge party here, so I think that really helped. The crowd was really hyping us up, and it was just so much fun, especially since we’re from here.”

Hydel of Jamaica won the high school girls’ 4x400-meter championship, its fifth straight title in the event, with a comeback in the anchor leg. Winslow Township was the only local school in the final, and finished fifth. Pennsauken had qualified, but did not take part.

Mifflin County High’s journey to Philadelphia from about 30 miles south of State College paid off with the boys’ distance medley relay title. North Penn, Lower Merion, and La Salle High were all in the top five of a race that was close until Mifflin anchor Carter Smith blew ahead in the last lap.

Union Catholic won the girls’ title in a new Penn Relays record time of 11:24.26, a year after also setting a record.

» READ MORE: A Penn recruit, Seannah Parsons, stars in the triple jump at her future home field

Haverford, Perkiomen Valley, Council Rock North, and Plymouth-Whitemarsh are among the 12 qualifiers to the high school boys’ 4x800-meter championship race, Saturday at 4:40 p.m.

Jamaica College had the top time in heats at 7:43.56, followed by Patriot of Nokesville, Va., in 7:45.92. Haverford’s 7:48.22 was the top local time.

The boys’ 4x100-meter final, Saturday at 3:45 p.m., will have eight of its nine teams from Jamaica. But while 2024 champion Excelsior and 2023 champion Jamaica College made it, last year’s winner Calabar did not. The perennial power from Kingston had just the 16th-best time in Friday’s heats.

Jamaica College had the best heat time, 40.11 seconds. St. James Academy of Springfield, Va., was second in 40.24 and was the only American school to qualify for the final.

The boys’ 4x400-meter races will all be contested Saturday, with heats in the morning and the title race set as the weekend’s last event at 5:50 p.m.

All eyes will be on four-time reigning champion Kingston College and the D.C. area’s Bullis School, with star Quincy Wilson hoping to finally win the big wheel. No American school has won the event since Long Beach Poly of California in 2007.

» READ MORE: What to know about this year’s Penn Relays: Who’s headlining, where to watch, and more