Sports

Cougars place fifth in first-ever final, B&G’s best time not good enough

PHILADELPHIA – Brent Jules and his Medgar Evers’ teammates are used to running both the 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 meter relays in a single meet, but just not in the order it did at the Penn Relays.

“I guess our legs weren’t there,” said Jules, the second leg.

Most times the 4 x 100 is run first followed by the 4 x 400, but on Saturday morning they ran the trials for the latter with the finals for the 4 x 100 scheduled less than two hours later at Penn Relays at Franklin Field. While Medgar Evers wouldn’t use it as an excuse it didn’t run its best time during the small school championship race later in the afternoon.

“I did feel a little bit fatigued,” anchor Andre Jordan said. “I felt like I was going to throw up when I was warming up earlier, but then after I started jogging I started feeling a little bit better. I guess I wasn’t back to 100 percent.”

The Medgar Evers team of Michael Betton, Jules, Adrian Lewis and Jordan placed fifth in a time of 42.54 in the 4 x 100 small schools final. All but Betton ran in the morning. Camperdown (Jamaica) won the event with a mark for 41.69. The Cougars ran a season-best time of 41.91 at the Taco Bell Classic on April 8 and posted a 48.81 at the trials on Friday. For the second straight day Lewis made a strong push to get his team into the top four and a chance for a late rally.

“What kind of bummed us was our PR is faster than the time that won,” Jules said.

But that may have been the lone down point of the day. Medgar Evers felt a sense of accomplished just making it to a final, the first ever by its boys program. Lewis, Jordan, Jules and Delroy Davis also ran a time of 3:22.80 in the 4 x 400.

“All of us are seniors,” Jordan said. “We are leaving this year. We can say we did something special.”

A city team did not reach the 4 x 400 final, but Robert Rhodes and Boys & Girls gave the crowd a bit of a thrill during their trials race. When the junior got the baton for the third leg he was well behind Knightdale (N.C.) and St. Elizabeth Tech of Jamaica, which were running well ahead of the rest of the field. He surged forward and brought a roar from the Franklin Field crowd.

“I just went for it,” Rhodes said. “When I saw they were getting closer and closer and the crowd was going crazy. It actually pushed me to keep going and catch them. It was crazy. I was so happy. I thought I went 47 for second.”

He ran his leg in 48.38 and put his team in second place to stay as he, Earl Lucas, Javaun Grant and Curtly Renwick ran a time of 3:19.22, its best of the season, in the heat. Knightdale was first in 3:17.51. Columbus’ squad of Davion Wint, Chevaughn Wilson, Strymar Livingston and Forrester Johnson posted a time of 3:23.66.

Usually I am afraid to take out that fast because I would usually die out,” Rhodes said. “That’s what happened to me last year, but this year I know I’m stronger.”