By BUDDY HURLOCK
Staff reporter
04/26/2003

Padua Academy set a school record in placing seventh in the small schools championship of the 400-meter relay Friday at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

The team of Lauren Wallace, Brittney Hackett, Kaitlin Cusick and Simone Seal ran in 49.28 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 49.42.

"To even run in this race is really an honor and we went in not concentrating on place, but on getting our time down. That's what we did, so we are pretty happy," Wallace said.

Franklin Township (N.J.) won in 46.59.

Salesianum earned an invitation to the 3,200-meter relay, but had to skip warm-ups after arriving late for the 9:20 a.m. race because of traffic. Coach Ralph Heiss said his runners entered the track just before the race started.

P.J. Meany, Mike Zeberkiewicz, Ryan Hamill and Tom Lord placed ninth in their heat in 8:08.4.

"They got out on the track and gave it their best," Heiss said.

The top 12 teams moved into today's championship, with times ranging from 7:50.8 (Midlothian, Va.) to 8:02.4 (Lewisburg, Pa.).

"Those are good times and were not out of our reach. But we're not in it. That's the Penn Relays. You have to do your best in one shot," Heiss said.

Newark was the fastest Delaware team in the boys 400-meter relay heats, as Sam Cotton, Brandon Reeves, Kenyatta Hardy and Kenneth Black finished in 43.78.

"That was the first time I put that team together. They'd been practicing, but never ran in dual meets," coach Frank Smith said. "But I expected them to do well because they're all good sprinters."

Dover (44.22) was best among all Delaware schools in the small schools section with Gary Sumpter, Keith White, Clarence Trader and Odun Balogun.

Newark and Dover finished third in their heats. Among heat winners were Brandywine (44.35) and Milford (44.73).

Brandywine's team consisted of Jon Howell, Jeff Reynolds, Kyle Guinivan and Gerald Backus. Corey Holloman, Ben Tilghman, Stefone Dukes and Jenel Sterile ran for Milford.

Salesianum's Gabe Gigliotti finished 16th in the high school boys shot put with a throw of 52 feet, 11 inches.

Cape Henlopen's Charli Tabler placed 13th in the high school girls discus at 115 feet, 7 inches.

The Holy Angels boys and Corpus Christi girls won the Wilmington Archdiocese heats of the 400-meter relay.

Dover's Odun Balogun will run today in the 400-meter hurdles. Other races include the boys and girls Philadelphia Area finals of the 1,600-meter relay. Glasgow and Padua are in the girls race.

400-meter relay (Wilmington Archdiocese heats)

Boys: 1-Holy Angels 51.28, 2-St. Edmond 51.63, 3-Corpus Christi 53.07, 4-St. Elizabeth 53.77, 5-St. Peter Cathedral 54.73, 6-St. Anthony 55.68, 7-Holy Rosary 56.77, 8-St. Matthew 57.23, 9-St. Mary Magdalen 57.90.

Girls: 1-Corpus Christi 55.19, 2-St. Elizabeth 57.11, 3-Our Lady of Fatima 58.38, 4-St. Mary Magdalen 1:00.38, 5-Ursuline 1:01.59, 6-St. Matthew 1:02.18, 7-St. Anthony 1:02.74, dq-Holy Angels.