Coaches Dyke, Bennett lavish high praise on Penn Relays heroines
Outstanding high school coaches Michael Dyke and Corey Bennett have lavished high praise on their star athletes who claim the High School Girls Championships of Americas relays titles at the 128th annual Penn Relays Festival inside Franklin Field on Friday.
Dyke, head coach of Edwin Allen High School girls’ team, was overjoyed after seeing his charges win two of the three events, the High School Girls 4x800m and 4x100m Championships of Americas titles, and Bennett was equally satisfied with his team’s record-breaking performance in the High School Girls’ 4x400m Championships of Americas event.
“Well, for the 4×8 we were expected to win. We had the fastest time going in and the girls executed well for the 4×1 it’s no surprise that we broke the record because we have been doing that all season and I think the girls did remarkably well way beyond the previous mark. It was 43.62, so excellent performance,” beamed Dyke.
Edwin Allen High School won the High School Girls 4x100m Championships of Americas title in a new Penn Relays record of 43.18 seconds, beating their own previous mark of 43.62 seconds.
Edwin Allen were also peerless in the 4x800m as they won in a lonely 8.54.58 minutes, well clear of the opposition.
Jamaica’s other entrant, defending champions Holmwood Technical High School suffered a mishap when leadoff runner Samantha Pryce broke her leg and failed to onpass the baton.
Meanwhile, Hydel won the High School Girls 4x400m Championships of Americas title in record-breaking fashion.
Led by Brianna Lyston, who ran a blistering second leg of the 4x100m relays, Hydel stopped the clock at a brisk 3:32.77 minutes, beating the old mark of 3:33.99 minutes.
Edwin Allen High finished second in 3:39.71 minutes and Bullis School finished third in 3:40.58 minutes.
The new Penn Relays record didn’t surprise Bennett.
“We ran faster than the record at Gibson Relays, we had four different ladies, we had to substitute one who got injured unfortunately before Champs, so we Kerrica Hill stepped in and I thought she ran excellent on the third leg and we couldn’t ask for more than that and really thankful to God that we were able to come out and deliver once again,” Bennett told Caribbean National Weekly.
He admitted that the aim was to win, and that “the record was just a bonus.”
Bennett added that “just before that we ran an amazing 4×1 with the third-fastest time ever and two of those ladies on that team came back for the 4×4, so it was a good turn around and we are really thankful that we were able to deliver in Philadelphia this year.”