Hopewell Valley NJ enjoys experience of a lifetime in record-breaking DMR performance

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

PHILADELPHIA – The Hopewell Valley NJ boys and the Bullis School MD girls lived on opposite sides of the Penn Relays coin on Friday at Franklin Field.

Programming Note: You can watch the live Webcast here of the meet Saturday. The USATF.TV broadcast and on-demand videos will only be available for USATF.TV +PLUS subscribers. Subscribe here.

For Hopewell Valley, the high school boys distance medley relay championship played out like a dream.

Sean Dolan, the son of University of Pennsylvania's Director of Track and Field, Steve Dolan, ran a blistering final lap and overtook two runners to take the lead and take Hopewell Valley across the finish line first in a Penn Relays record 9:57.77. It's also No. 11 all-time in prep history.

“It’s crazy,” Sean Dolan said after splitting 4:07.57. “My brother and I have been coming to this meet for years. We miss Friday (at school) every year to come down and watch all the college races. The crowd goes crazy when you’re storming down the homestretch. To be there is just incredible. It’s an amazing feeling. We’re just so blessed to get this opportunity year after year and, and we finally got (a win) and it’s a huge honor.”

Teddy Meredith led it off with 3:02.69 for 1,200 meters and then Amos Barnes took the stick and ran the 400-meter leg in 50.69 seconds. Senior Tim Dolan ran 1:56.56 before handing the baton to his younger brother, Sean, a junior.

Sam Affolder of Loudoun Valley VA took the baton with a two-second lead and extended the margin over the first two laps. But on the final lap, he began to tie up. Matthew Payamps of St. Anthony’s began to close the gap and then came Sean Dolan, running faster than anybody.

Dolan caught Payamps on the backstretch and then zipped past Affolder.

“I felt like I had it when I started pulling away,” Sean Dolan said. “It felt effortless. I felt on top of the world.”

Hopewell Valley not only upset Loudoun Valley, it broke the meet record of the Alan Webb-led South Lakes VA team from 2001.

Steve Dolan’s UPenn team calls Franklin Field home, but for a shining moment Friday evening there was time to celebrate a special experience for his two sons and their teammates.

“Certainly, I circled 5:30 (p.m.) today as a time to be a parent and sit in the stands and watch them run,” Steve Dolan said. “It was quite an exciting experience and something they’ll remember for a lifetime.”

Earlier in the day, Bullis’ best laid plans began to fall apart.

Coach Joe Lee had been taking messages from well-wishers all day, people excited to see if his team could end the Jamaican stranglehold on the Penn Relays 4x100 and 4x400 championships.

On the third leg of the 4x100, Lee watched the dream turn into a nightmare. Shaniya Hall took the baton and got halfway through the turn before she suddenly pulled up with a hamstring injury. As the race sped away in front of her, she hopped on one leg to the exchange zone and handed the baton to Leah Phillips.

Phillips took the stick in last place, wheeled all the way around and tried to chase the girls ahead of her. In the process, she injured her toe.

Hall left the track in a wheelchair. It's an injury that Hall had dealt with earlier in the year, but she had been cleared to compete. 

Suddenly, the Bullis coaching staff needed come up with a healthy 4x400 relay team capable of going out and competing for a victory. Hall and Phillips, both members of the team's national record indoor 4x200 relay, were both out. 

Senior Ayanna Johnson, sitting in the stands, got a call from one of her coaches. She needed to get ready. She was running the anchor. Lauryn Harris, who ran on the 4x400 a day earlier, was also re-activated to join Sierra Leonard and Masai Russell.

“I had an hour to take it in and get prepared to go and compete,” said Johnson, who ran on the anchor leg. “It was a total shock when the coaches called me and said be ready for the 4x4. I was excited. It was a big event and my favorite (race) to run.”

Bullis was out fast with the leaders, Hydel and Holmwood Tech of Jamaica. For three legs it remained a tight race.

On the fourth leg, the Jamaicans pulled away. Johnson gave her best effort, split 58.18, and held off Western Branch VA for third place.

As the best U.S. finisher, Bullis’ quartet got a set of Penn Relays watches. They ran 3:41.51. Hydel ran 3:36.38 for the win and Holmwood Tech ran 3:38.14 for second.

“Sitting in the stands and seeing Shaniya get hurt, it was heart-breaking,” Harris said. “Not only for myself, but seeing my teammate go through that pain. One thing after another was happening and we had to pick each other back up. We know we’re a strong team and we have each other. Whoever was going to replace them would do their best.”

Western Branch finished fourth in both the 4x100 (with a U.S.-best 45.46) and the 4x400 (3:41.85).

Kieran McDermott of Belair MD was an unexpected winner of the boys mile, clocking a lifetime-best 4:09.63 to take the win. He pulled away from Mount Tabor’s Cameron Ponder and Shore Regional NJ’s Drew Maher over the final 200. Josh Hoey of Bishop Shanahan PA, the pre-meet favorite, did not show.

In the boys 3,000 meters, Devin Hart of Point Pleasant Boro NJ, a junior, ran 8:22.24 and was in control throughout.

Holmwood Tech repeated its girls 4x800 relay crown. Brittney Campbell split 2:08.54 on the second leg and anchor Chrisanni May ran 2:11.50.

In second, Pennsylvania’s Neumann-Goretti PA gave chase and ran an impressive time of 8:57.09.

“We trained really hard for this throughout the season and we’re really proud of ourselves,” said sophomore Makayla Perry, who split 2:11.51 on the second leg. 

More Wheels For Villanova

The Villanova women made it 2-for-2 as Natalie Hutchinson outdueled Indiana’s Katherine Receveur and blew open a close race in the final 300 meters.

Villanova’s women won their second championship in two days and will go for a third in the 4x800 on Saturday as the Wildcats try to complete a sweep of the distance relays for the second straight year.

Hutchinson split 4:17.0 on the anchor leg.

Meanwhile, the Villanova men won the championship distance medley relay for the 25th time as Casey Comber split 3:59.79 on the 1,600-meter anchor leg.

Georgetown had the lead coming into the second exchange but a botched hand-off between Nate Alleyne and Rey Rivera – and a bouncing baton – caused the Hoyas to lose momentum. Despite a 3:59.27 anchor by Amos Bartelsmeyer, Georgetown finished fifth.

Up front, Comber was able to gain a little bit of separation on Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse and hang on for a 9:34.37 to 9:35.18 win.

“The home crowd played at least a little bit of a factor,” Comber said. “When you hear the crowd really get behind you, you feel like you can go harder every step of the way. It does make a difference.”

The Clemson women won the 1,600 sprint medley relay title with freshman Kamryn McIntosh running 2:03.27 on the anchor leg. The Tigers finished in 3:45.05.

The Auburn women won the 4x100 relay in 44.14, maintaining the dominance that they showed in Thursday’s prelims.

Notre Dame’s women won the shuttle hurdles relay in 54.87, edging out South Carolina.

Penn State’s Isaiah Harris posted one of the fastest 800-meter splits in Penn Relays history, 1:44.74, to chase down Clemson and win the men’s 1,600 sprint medley relay title. The Nittany Lions ran 3:15.25.