Springfield Gardens' 4x4.

High Schools such as Boys and Girls, Sheepshead Bay, Medgar Evers College Prep, Prospect Heights, Benjamin Banneker Academy, Paul Robson, Clara Barton, Campus Magnet, Springfield Gardens and Benjamin Cardozo -- just to just to name a few -- are loaded with athletes of Caribbean background. And even though some of the athletes didn’t make it to the finals, their experience running at Penns was worth its weight in gold and is something they will cherish for a long time.

Thursday, April 22 Heats

Lady Judges Rule in 4x4 Qualifier

Benjamin Cardozo's 4x4 .

Buoyed by their near-record run earlier in the morning in the High Girls 4x100m relay finals (46.25), just

fractions of a second off the New York State record (46.16), Benjamin Cardozo’s Lady Judges entered the High Girls 4x400m relay with a “take-no-prisoner” attitude.
 
The all-Caribbean-roots quartet comprised of Chamique Francis (Jamaica), Athyana Johnson (Barbados), Letisha Philson (Barbados) and the 14-yr-old rookie Sabrina Southerland (Haiti), showed why they are rated as the best high school girls 4x4 relay team in all of the US in 2010.

All they merely did was run the fastest time of 3:41.62 to take first place and qualify for the final. In their race, they managed to hold off Edwin Allen Comprehensive High School, a hot favorite and powerhouse team from Jamaica.

The splits for Cardozo were Philson, 55.9 secs; Johnson, 54.1; Southerland, 57.3 (a personal best) and Francis, 54.3.

The Medgar Evers Lady Cougars, True Contenders 

The Penn Relays program listed the race with the Lady Cougars as “Event # 47, High School Girls 4x400.”

Medgar Evers Prep's 4x4.

In the line-up were the veteran Vere Technical High of Jamaica, Medgar Evers Prep of Brooklyn, NY, Bishop Ansley High School of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Anato Rodgers High School of Nassau, Bahamas among others.

The mere mention of these schools raised the noise and excitement level in the stands. As if not to be out done by their Inter-borough rivals, the Lady Cougars squad also has athletes of Caribbean descent : Nyanka Moise-Joseph, (St. Lucia) 56.6; 15-yr-old Kadecia Baird, (Guyana) 55.1; Shakele Seaton, Trinidad & Tobago 55.7 and Rachel Leeke, (Trinidad & Tobago) 55.7 showed why they are true contenders and are ranked US No. 2. From the start of the gun, the Lady Cougars led every leg of the race through the finish line to clock 3:43.14, one of the four fastest times of the day, and earn a spot in the Championship of Americas High School Girls 4x4 final, the main featured event for the next day (Friday, April 23).

Friday, April 23 Final

In the High School Girls 4x4 final, the Lady Judges were overhauled and overruled, by Jamaica’s powerful Holmwood High School, who won the event in a blistering time of 3:39.66 and Edwin Allen, 2nd, in 3:41.04.

The Lady Judges entered the final chasing history. They were gunning to become the first New York area high school in the 116 years of Penn Relays to win the High School 4x4 Championship of America event. They, like many others before them, found that the weight of that burden was a little to heavy to carry.

The four young ladies were somewhat disappointed with the results. However, they left the track with heads held high and a good feeling about themselves -- knowing that they came close to taking the top prize in that event -- and took consolation in that they went to Penns as the US #No. 1-ranked high school girls 4x4 team and left with their ranking in tact.

They came in 3rd behind Holmwood and Edwin Allen, in 3:42.27 secs. Their splits were: Letisha Philson, 56.7; Athyana Johnson, 53.9 (personal best); Sabrina Southerland, 57.9 and Chamique Francis 53.8 (personal best).

The Medgar Evers Lady Cougars were forced to make a last-second decision at the starting line not to compete as their young star athlete Kadecia Baird was experiencing excruciating hip pain.

Coach Shaun Deitz explained that Baird, who on the previous day ran one leg of the Lady Cougars 4x1, took a nasty fall at the end of her race and injured her hip.  He was concerned for his athlete, fearing that her injury may have been severe. Baird was treated by professional trainers, provided by the Penn Relays organizers. The pain eventually subsided and the 15-yr-old star was able to compete the next day in both the 4x1 and 4x4 preliminaries, running a commendable 400 split of 55.1 secs.

Dietz’s believed that “because the athletes who were participating in the 4x4 finals waited in the starting area for such a long time, Kadecia got cold and her hip started to hurt. She really tried to run the race, and even went to the starting line. But the pain was too much and her team mates decided not to run.”

In praising his athletes, Coach Dietz was “ecstatic” about their performance, noting that they have set a net school record.

Tremendous Depth of Sheepshead Bay Boys 4x4

Sheepshead Bay's John Thomas.

The adjective “superlative” can best describe Coach John Padula’s Sheepshead Bay Boys 4x4 relay team during 2010. All season they have been super; however, Padula had to make an adjustment to the team since one of the top guns was injured at a Texas meet.

The team, which has tremendous depth, is made up of four young men with Jamaican background. The quartet of Akeam Allen, Paul Fyffe, John Thomas, and 15-yr-old Tyroy Lawson made it to the finals, finishing 3rd in 3:25.08.  But anchorman Paul Fyffe was not satisfied: “I allowed myself to be boxed into the inside lane for most of the race, and when I finally was able to go on the outside I ran out or real estate,” he lamented.  Akeam and John tried to console the competitive Fyffe, who insisted that, “we did not come here to finish 3rd, we came here to win, man, we came here to win.”

On the flipside though, several other athletes will cherish the experience as the opportunity of a lifetime. The sentiment of many was voiced by one: running on the same track and participating in the same meet as Usain Bolt and Allison Felix will be his most treasured memory.