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BOYS TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS:  Hunter, Ostberg reign supreme; La Salle takes close DMR

• US#2 4:07.15 mile run by Andrew Hunter (Loudoun Valley, VA junior), burying the field with a long kick on the last lap for the #3 time in meet history.  A close battle for the next three spots saw Mike Brannigan (Northport, NY senior) in 2nd at US#6 4:09.61, Diego Zarate (Northwest, MD senior) in 3rd at US#7 4:09.69, and Sam Ritz (Germantown Acad., PA senior) at US#8 4:09.94.  Hunter, the new NBNI 2M champ and reigning Great American CC champ, won the 3,000 here last year but elected to drop down.  He joins Matt Centrowitz (2006-07) as the only runners to win both events.
• US#5 10:12.10 distance medley relay for the La Salle Academy, RI team of Matthew Bouthillette (3:09.44), Cameron Morenzi (50.96), Daniel Paiva (1:57.20) and Jack Salisbury (4:14.52).  The top five teams (all from different states) finished within 1.31 seconds, the closest mass finish in event history, as McDonogh School MD at 10:12.19, Christian Brothers NJ at 10:12.78, top-seeded Fordham Prep NY at 10:13.36 and Lake Braddock VA in 10:13.41 followed in succession.  La Salle won without having any of the fastest individual legs; Fordham Prep’s Joseph Prunty (3:08.07) and Conor Lundy (4:14.12) were fastest at 1,200 and 1,600, while the best 400 and 1,200 legs went to CBA’s Mike Zupko (48.55) and Lake Braddock’s Ben Fogg (1:56.6).  La Salle is just the 2nd Rhode Island school to win a boys’ relay at Penn, the other having been St. Raphael’s DMR in 1989.  La Salle also won the 4x800 in 1942.
• US#8 8:23.95 3,000m run for Alex Ostberg (Darien, CT senior), pulling away late and moving up from 3rd in 2014.  He is the first male athlete (or team) from Connecticut to win a Penn championship.  Aidan Tooker (Saratoga Springs, NY junior) followed in 2nd at 8:27.34 and Jake Brophy (Central Bucks East, PA junior) was 3rd at 8:29.12.  Ostberg and Tooker finished 3rd and 4th in last month’s NBNI 2M.

GIRLS RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS: Another double for Edwin Allen

• 45.40 4x100m relay for the Edwin Allen, JAM team of Aaliyah Hopkins, Patrice Moody, Saqukine Cameron and Shellece Clark, winning by nearly half a second over St. Jago’s, JAM at 45.86 to defend their 2014 title.  Holmwood Tech, JAM was 3rd at 45.94.  Long Beach Poly, CA – the 2011 and 2012 champs – was the top U.S. team in the COA for the 5th straight year at 46.66, with the team of Kenyla Miles, Zhane Smith, Maya Perkins and Ariyonna Augustine earning gold watches, too.  Maryland teams Riverdale Baptist and Bullis School were 6th and 8th with 47.19 and 47.44.  In two of the other finals, St. Catherine, JAM and Cheltenham, PA were 1-2 in the Large Schools final at 46.89 and 47.21, while Nansemond River, VA took the Small Schools final at 47.44.
• 3:40.41 4x400m relay for the defending champion Edwin Allen, JAM team of Davia Smith (56.3), Janiel Moore (55.1), Shannon Kalawan (55.10) and Saqukine Cameron (53.88), with Cameron (also on the 4x1 champs) pulling away on the anchor for the winning margin and a sweep of the 4x1 and 4x4 for the 2nd straight year.  Vere Tech, JAM was 2nd at 3:42.18 and Nansemond River, VA 3rd with a US#2 3:43.03.  With the team of Candice James (59.1), Kara Lyles (53.8), Syaira Richardson (54.87) and Brandee’ Johnson (55.20), Nansemond River also won gold watches as the first U.S. team, with Lyles basically matching Cameron for the best leg of the race.  It was the 3rd Penn 4x4 win in four years for Edwin Allen and 4th overall.  They had just missed the meet record by .01 in 2014 with their 3:34.76.  Vere Tech had won in 2011 and 2013 and leads all schools historically with 11 4x4 titles.
• 9:01.31 4x800m relay for the Holmwood Tech team of Shaniekie Watson (2:17.56), Chrissiani May (2:12.95), Britney Campbell (2:19.95) and Lisa Buchanan (2:10.87), taking control in the middle of the race and never really being threatened after that.  Western Branch, VA was a strong and solitary 2nd with a US#1 9:07.71, with the team of Ces'shay Joyner (2:25.70), Faith Ross (2:11.20), Jewel Smith (2:22.99) and Amanda Thomas (2:07.83) also earning gold watches as the fastest U.S. team.  Thomas, in fact, had the fastest split of the meet.  Vere Tech, JAM was 3rd at 9:13.06.  Holmwood’s title was its 9th, tops in meet history, despite the first winning time slower than 9:00 since 1999.

BOYS THROWS FINALS: Monster heaves by Detillion, Geist

• US#2 203-6 discus throw by Trevor Detillion (Unioto, OH senior), getting a big PR on his 2nd throw and holding off the field despite fouls on three of his last four throws.  His performance is #4 in meet history.  Top seed David Lucas was 2nd at US#3 199-7, hitting 198-9 on his opener then getting his best throw in the 3rd round.  Kino Dunkley (Munro College, JAM) was 3rd at 191-2.  Detillion, who was 6th in the NBNO discus last year, is the first-ever boy from Ohio to win a field event at Penn.
• US#2 67-1.25 shot put by Jordan Geist (Knoch, PA soph), taking it with his 2nd round throw.  Geist fouled four times, but his two fair throws were the best and 3rd-best of the competition.  Demar Gayle (Edwin Allen, JAM) was a strong 3rd at 66-5 and Eric Favors (North Rockland, NY senior) took 3rd at US#6 64-2.5.  Geist, who was 4th behind Favors and Rashad Manning (5th here) at NBNI, is the #6 thrower in meet history and only Nick Vena has thrown further as a soph.  In fact, Geist is thought to be just the 2nd sophomore ever to win this event at Penn and will have a chance to join Vena as a 3-time champ.
• 208-8 javelin throw by Denzel Pratt (St. Augustine, BAH), defending his 2014 title and winning by more than eight feet.  He was followed by Michael Biddle (Williamsburg Comm., PA senior) at 200-1 and 2014 Chicagoland champ Nick Solfanelli (Scranton Prep, PA senior) at 197-5.  Pratt, who won with 220-7 last year, is the 3rd boy in Penn history to win two javelin titles.

BOYS RELAY QUALIFYING:  Nordhoff shines in 4x8; Kingston College leads 4x1

• 7:52.12 4x800m relay by the Nordhoff, CA team of Varian Wilson (2:01.65), Elijah Balderas (2:01.07), Landis Meyer (1:56.34) and Cameron Kunde (1:53.08), winning the 2nd Small Schools race and leading all qualifiers to Saturday’s Championship of America.  Kunde’s split was the fastest of all of the qualifying races.  Nordhoff was followed by River Dell Regional, NJ at 7:55.34, which made the final with 4th overall.  The only qualifier from the first Small School section was St. Elizabeth Tech, JAM at 7:58.45.  Pennsbury, PA took the 1st Large School section in 7:54.98 (3rd overall), followed by Kingston College, JAM at 7:56.36 (5th) and Central Bucks East, PA at 7:56.52 (6th).  The final Large School section went to Arlington, NY at 7:54.33 (2nd overall), with South Brunswick, NJ at 7:58.93 completing the COA field.  Top-seeded U.S. entry Memphis U., TN was a no-show.
• 41.12 4x100m relay by the Kingston College team of Chadayne Walker, Akeem Bloomfield, Twayne Crooks and Shiunarine Smalling – winning heat #13, topping all of the Large Schools heats and leading all qualifiers into Saturday’s Championship of America.  Also qualifying for the COA from the Large Schools heats were top-seeded Calabar JAM at 41.36 (heat #2), St. George’s JAM at 41.41 (heat #29), T.C. Williams VA as the top U.S qualifier at 41.71 (heat #28), and DeMatha Catholic MD at 42.08 (heat #6).  Making it to the COA from the Small Schools heats were St. Jago JAM at #2 overall 41.30 (heat #25), St. Elizabeth Tech JAM at 42.03 (heat #24) and St. John’s College DC at 42.38 (heat #33).  Defending COA winner and Penn record-holder Jamaica College was 12th in the Large Schools heats.