The 130th running of the iconic Penn Relays Carnival, one of the most prestigious annual track and field events in North America, delivered another historic moment on its second competition day at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field, as Jamaica’s Edwin Allen High School defended its Championships of Americas girls’ 4x100m crown in dominant fashion, clocking the third-fastest time in the event’s history.
Competing against a stacked field of top high school relay squads from across the region, Edwin Allen faced an early test from Bullis School of Maryland, one of the top-ranked U.S. programs entering the final. But second-leg runner Alexxe Henry broke open the race early, seizing the lead from Bullis and extending a gap that Edwin Allen never relinquished through the final exchange. When the final sprinter crossed the finish line, the clock stopped at 44.13 seconds, a time that cements the team’s place in Penn Relays history.
This victory marks Edwin Allen’s 11th overall title in the event, and extends the program’s extraordinary decades-long run of dominance: this win is the Jamaican squad’s ninth in the last 11 editions of the Championships of Americas. The only two titles the program did not claim over that stretch went to Hydel High, another Jamaican powerhouse that has emerged as the school’s primary rival in recent years.
Only two 4x100m squads in Edwin Allen’s own decorated history have posted faster times at the Penn Relays: the 2019 team that set the current event meet record of 43.62 seconds, and the 2017 squad that ran 43.96 seconds, which was a meet record at the time.
In the final standings, Jamaica’s St Jago High took second place with a solid time of 45.08 seconds, while New Jersey’s Pennsauken rounded out the top three with a 45.30-second run. Excelsior High finished fourth in 45.6 seconds, followed by Mt Alvernia High, first-time finalists who clocked 45.94 seconds to take fifth.
In the accompanying International final, St Augustine’s from the Bahamas, the only non-Jamaican team in that competition field, claimed gold with a 45.90 finish. Alpha Academy took second in 46.42 seconds, followed by Holmwood Technical (46.74 seconds), St Mary High (46.77 seconds), William Knibb High (47.11 seconds), Vere Technical (47.33 seconds), Penwood High (47.45 seconds), Meadowbrook High (48.07 seconds) and Manchester High (48.19 seconds).