Bullis Healthy, Ready To Compete At High Level Versus Jamaicans

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Joe Lee was driving a van filled with his Bullis MD track athletes Wednesday and could barely contain his excitement on the trip to Philadelphia for the 125th Penn Relays Carnival.

The successful coach of Bullis said his team is healthy and ready to go coming into the weekend and there is gathering confidence that the boys and girls 4x400-meter relay teams can compete with the top Jamaican teams at Franklin Field.

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“I’m excited about the opportunity to go win a championship,” Lee said. “It’s been double-digit years now where the Jamaicans are winning the Championship of America in the 4x4s. All we ask for is a chance.”

The boys team holds special promise after the quartet of Andre Turay, Ryan Willie, Jay Pendarvis Jr. and Ashton Allen broke the indoor national high school records in the 4x200 and the 4x400 in January at The Virginia Showcase.

Lee reports that all four are healthy and ready to run. Allen, the team’s talented anchor, sat out the 52nd Arcadia Invitational in California three weeks ago to have some additional rest.

“He could have run,” Lee said. “But it was precautionary.”

Bullis is taking no chances and learning all it can from recent years, when things went smoothly or when the squad faced adversity.

Last year, the Bullis girls brought high hopes to Philadelphia, but two injuries prevented the team from having an optimum chance to win. Bullis had the lead at the final baton exchange, but the substitute anchor was no match for the top Jamaican team, from Hydel.

This year's team, anchored by Leah Phillips, is looking for some redemption.

Lee’s passion for competing against the Jamaicans, and not accepting defeat on home soil without mounting a stout defense, extends back to his college days.

Lee was part of a 4x400 relay team at George Mason that included three Jamaican sprinters.

His admiration for Jamaican sprinting is the same force that drives him to try and build teams that can rise to the challenge and compete.

“I love rivalries and this is a healthy rivalry,” Lee said. “I can’t say enough about the Jamaican people and the culture of running they foster for track overall.”

However ... 

“It’s always bothered me when it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Jamaicans are going to win,” he said.

Bullis has, over the past six years, built a national track powerhouse. And Lee’s vision for the program has always included being relevant at Penn Relays, to be in the hunt for a COA victory in front of the big flag-waving crowd. 

Last year, the boys from Calabar of Jamaica made all kinds of history at Penn Relays. They swept the high school championship titles in the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 – with winning times that exceed the U.S. high school records. Calabar ran 3:03.79 to win the 4x400.

So the challenge is big.

And Bullis, which views Penn Relays as a third championship – an “international championship,” Lee says – between New Balance Nationals Indoor and New Balance Nationals Outdoor, is primed to do big things.

“Our boys are running fast,” Lee said. “I have had to back them off in practice. They’re getting excited, they have confidence, experience and desire. As long as they execute well, it should be a fun time.”

One more thing.

If it’s close going into the anchor legs, Lee said, look out.

“Everybody better have their popcorn.”