Excelsior ready to crash Penns 4x400m party

ONE of the most eagerly awaited events for high school teams at this weekend's Penn Relays is the high school boys Championship of America 4x400 metres as there is a lot of hype surrounding defending champions Kingston College (KC), Jamaica College (KC), the event leader and Bullis High of the United States, led by outstanding Olympic Games 4x400m gold medallist Quincy Wilson.

KC will be aiming to make it five wins in a row, while JC with the top two times in the event at 3:08.18 and 3:08.20, will be hoping to make up for last year's fifth-place finish. Bullis, with Wilson -- who ran the fastest high school 400m split of 43.99 seconds, breaking his previous best of 44.37 -- will be hoping to break the Jamaican dominance and end his Penn Relays high school career on a high.

While the hype surrounds all three teams, lying in wait and ready to pounce are last year's fourth-place finishers, Excelsior High, who could crash the party.

A year ago, the David Riley-coached team was very competitive in the event and actually led going into the penultimate changeover. With their 4x100m team expected to win earlier in the meet, this could serve as added motivation. Coach Riley is extremely confident ahead of the meet despite a season's best 3:10.02 for a third-place finish by his team at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships.

"We count our chances well. We are yet to run our best team all season because of various challenges and scheduling concerns," said Riley. "But we are prepared for the challenges that face us at Penn Relays. We are a prepared team, and we trust our preparation and attention to detail to help us navigate the opportunities Penn Relays present," he added.

Excelsior will see the return of Kishawn Hoffman and Demarco Bennett from last year's team, and with the outstanding Class Two 400m hurdles record-breaker at Champs, Jaedan Campbell, along with Gregory McFarlane expected to be inserted into the team, this looks a powerful unit that appears primed to go all the way.

Fans will get an early appetizer in the event, as in Friday's preliminary round KC and Bullis will lock horns, having both been drawn in the same heat.