Local athletes, Mater Dei & Corpus Christi CYO teams turn in strong performances on national stage
North Penn’s boys distance medley relay team delivered a historic performance Friday at the Penn Relays, breaking a school record and finishing second in one of the meet’s premier events at Franklin Field.
The Knights — Musa Herzi, Morgen Brown, Matthew Connelly and Justin Landis — ran a 9:56.49, smashing the previous program record by more than 20 seconds and posting the second-fastest time in event history, according to The Mercury. The race featured a loaded field, with all top three teams finishing under the previous Penn Relays record.
Elsewhere, area athletes also made an impact. Perkiomen Valley’s Colin Sturges placed second in the high school boys shot put with a throw of 63 feet, 6¾ inches, while Central Bucks East turned in a pair of strong relay performances, placing seventh in the girls 4x800 Championship of America race and third in the Philadelphia-area 4x400.
At the CYO level, local programs competed against large fields of more than 70 schools. Mater Dei’s Senior Boys captured first place in the 4x100 relay. Corpus Christi also posted multiple strong finishes, highlighted by a first-place showing in a preliminary heat of the girls 12-15 4x100 relay and a second-place finish in the girls 9-11 4x100 final. Corpus Christi’s boys teams added a fourth-place finish in the 12-15 division and a 38th-place result in the 9-11 race.
The results capped a standout weekend for North Penn-area athletes, with several competitors holding their own — and in some cases setting records — on one of the biggest stages in high school track and field.
