All-time best 50.37 anchor split by McLaughlin helps Union Catholic place third in 4x400

Rio Olympian lowers her own mark after clocking 50.78 in the trials to help Vikings run No. 2 time in program, New Jersey history

By Jim Lambert for DyeStat

PHILADELPHIA - Chasing a team that was virtually unbeatable, Union Catholic didn’t back down.

Instead, the New Jersey powerhouse attacked their Jamaican opponents and left everything it had on the track by delivering a valiant performance in Friday’s 4x400 Championship of America race at the 123rd Penn Relays.

With Hydel of Jamaica way out front the whole way on the way to a stunning meet record victory in 3 minutes, 33.99 seconds, Union Catholic, the only U.S. team in the race, picked up three personal bests, including another mind-numbing, meet-record anchor carry of 50.37 from Rio Olympian Sydney McLaughlin, who rallied to a third-place finish in 3:38.92 in front of 38,598 at Franklin Field.

Hydel’s performance erased the meet record of 3:34.75 set by Holmwood Tech of Jamaica in 2001.

St. Jago of Jamaica finished second in 3:36.54. It’s the first Penn Relays 4x400 title for Hydel and the ninth straight year a Jamaican team has won the 4x400 since Roosevelt MD won in 2007-08.

This marked the second straight year that Union Catholic finished third overall and first among American teams in the 4x400 at Penn. The Vikings were bidding to become the first New Jersey program to win the 4x400 since Willingboro in 1999.

Regardless, UC coach Mike McCabe was elated with how his team raced.

“I told the girls that they’re (Hydel) probably going to break the meet record to beat us,’’ McCabe said. “That’s what they did. We got beat pretty good, but they broke the meet record to beat us. Ideally you want to win the wheel, but we knew that this Hydel team had two or three 52-second runners, so it came down to were they going to make a mistake. I’m super happy. Everyone ran their best splits ever. We got four PRs this weekend and three of them double PR’d.”

Sophomore Khamil Evans led off for UC with a 55.5 carry.

Junior Amaya Chadwick followed with a 57.1, and then senior Cassie Lamadieu delivered a 55.51 before handing to McLaughlin.

The Kentucky-bound McLaughlin passed three runners during her epic lap as she broke her own meet 400 split record of 50.78 that she ran in the trials Thursday.

Union Catholic’s 3:38.92 is No. 2 in program and New Jersey history -- trailing only its 3:35.90 from the 2015 New Balance Nationals Outdoor title-winning effort -- and was slightly faster than Thursday's trial time of 3:39.35.

“I’m proud of our team,’’ McLaughlin said. “We raced really hard yesterday, and to come back and try to do it again, and to do it faster is great. We have some great girls on the come up. Cassie and I are seniors, but the other two can lead a group for years on. To be able to come out here and come back from last year, knowing that we weren’t afraid. We came out here and attacked this time.”

McLaughlin said her mindset didn't change, despite of the depth of the Jamaican teams in the field.

“My goal was just to run a fast split,’’ she said. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch first, so I just wanted to go out there and run as fast as I could and get us as close as I could to the front.

“They’re great competitors and really nice girls. I think it’s great for them to come out here and push us so hard early in the season, where it’s the end of their season.’’

Hydel anchor Garriel White, who split 54.88, said her team devised a strategy to try to get as big a lead as it could because of McLaughlin’s presence.

“It’s nerve-wracking because you know how great she is,’’ White said of McLaughlin. “So we had a plan to try to get as big of a lead as we possibly could with our front legs.

“And we were able to do that and get the record.’’