Penn Relays preview: Morris, Sussex athletes among track & field standouts to compete
The day Penn Relays invitations came out, Amanda Hoffman and her Parsippany Hills 4x800 teammates spent a lot of time checking the official website. Hoffman said the Vikings "were pretty sure we got in" and "pretty confident" with their school-record 9:37:15 from Nike Indoor Nationals in March.
But until their school was posted, they weren't sure they'd be able to go to the prestigious track and field carnival that's held annually on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia since 1895.
The Parsippany Hills girls – junior Anya Sadowski, sophomore Kira Chebishev, and seniors Leann Lombardi and Hoffman – are set to run on Friday morning.
Local schedule
Chatham and Mendham will get local competition underway on Thursday morning in the boys 4x800 heats. Fifteen Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference boys 4x100 teams will compete, followed by boys 4x400 heats all afternoon.
Instead of the traditional high school "Girls Day" on Thursday, there will be girls 4x100 and 4x800 heats on Friday morning and four hours of 4x400s on Saturday.
The top 12 finishers across the 4x800 heats, as well as the nine fastest 4x100s and 4x400s, advance to Championship of America finals. There are also Northeast, National and International finals for the 4x100.
Don't miss this! Penn Relays schedule and results for North Jersey competitors
The Chatham boys 4x8 reached the Championship of America final last year, placing ninth. Seniors Ryan Beegle and Charlie Henne are back, alongside senior Leo Valenzuela and sophomore Adam Petitjean. The Cougars broke the school record by running 7:51.5 to place fourth at the Arcadia Invitational over spring break, with junior Reilly Byrne running in place of Petitjean.
"We're really excited to finally see it. It looks really cool in the pictures," said Parsippany Hills' Hoffman, who hopes to help her team post personal bests in both the 4x4 (4:03.94) and 4x8. "We've all been working really hard since the end of winter and thinking about Penn Relays all that time. I know we're all going to try our best that day."
➤ Delbarton is the top seed in the distance medley Championship of America on Friday afternoon, after running 10:08.58 on Jan. 21 at The Armory in New York City.
➤ Mount Olive senior Nicholas Frattina is the only local individual to be invited to participate. A thrower since beating the opposition by 10 feet at Mountain View Elementary School's field day when he was in fourth grade, Frattina will compete in the shot put on Thursday morning.
Frattina hopes to surpass his outdoor PR of 59 feet, 6 inches, preferably by breaking 60 feet.
"I'm trying to beat myself every day," said Frattina, who will compete for Cornell University next year. "I would like to win Penn Relays, but at least be the best American there. We'll see what happens."
Morris/Sussex Penn Relays qualifiers
Chatham: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x800
Delbarton: Distance medley
Dover: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x100, Girls 4x400
Kittatinny: Girls 4x100
Mendham: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Boys 4x800, Girls 4x400
Morris Hills: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x100
Morristown: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x100, Girls 4x400
Morristown Beard: Boys 4x100
Mount Olive: Boys 4x100, Girls 4x100, Nicholas Frattina (shot put)
Parsippany: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x400
Parsippany Hills: Boys 4x100, Girls 4x400, Girls 4x800
Pequannock: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400
Pope John: Girls 4x100
Randolph: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400
Roxbury: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x100, Girls 4x400
Vernon: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400
Wallkill Valley: Boys 4x100, Boys 4x400, Girls 4x100
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Penn Relays 2023: Morris, Sussex NJ teams who will compete
