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Poly .... headed for a state title???

In first three photos, Long Beach Poly boys go crazy in relay action, first during a stunning 3:11.22 4x400 vicotry over revered Winslow Township (!), and then (fourth photo) posing for Kirby Lee's camera after going a sensational 7:43.43 in the 4x800 clash!

Second chance nets first-place impression

Poly boys overcome 4x400 prelims snafu to win title in national-leading 3:11.22

By Kirby Lee, Kirby Lee Enterprises

PHILADELPHIA -- The Poly High boys took advantage of a second chance in the 1,600-meter relay in the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field on Saturday.

The Jackrabbits dropped the baton in the preliminaries but squeezed into the eight-team Championship of America final with the seventh-best mark of 43 heats that took more than three hours to run.

In the final, Poly set a school record 3 minutes, 11.22 seconds to defeat local favorite Winslow of New Jersey behind a 45.7 anchor by junior Derrick Jones. The performance by junior Rodney Van, Jones and seniors Julian Sylvie and Malik Muhammad was the eighth-best time in the meet's 109-year history. Jones' split ties for sixth fastest.

``We were confident that we could win,'' Van said. ``I am just happy that we ever made it to the final.''
Poly almost never got the chance to enter the record books when Travon Patterson dropped the baton on the third leg in the preliminaries after being bumped with the Jackrabbits battling for the lead.

Poly fell into fifth place and needed a 47.1 anchor by Jones -- the fastest split of the heats -- to move from fifth to second in its heat in 3:18.23. The Jackrabbits needed to wait an hour and 12 more heats to receive the news that they had qualified for the final by 18 hundredths.

``We knew we ran a pretty good time even with the dropped baton but I was a little worried,'' Jones said. ``When we saw some of the times that were being run, we started to feel a lot better.''

In the championship, Poly trailed Winslow by 10 meters after legs by Van (49.2), Sylvie (48.5) and Muhammad (47.8). Jones pulled even with Winslow's Antraye Miles on the homestretch. Jones swung wide into the second lane to win the duel over the last 50 meters to bring the crowd of 39,783 on its feet on an overcast blustery day with scattered showers.

``It was just a matter of who had more heart at the end, me or him,'' Jones said.

Poly's 1,600 relay victory was the second of the day for Sylvie and Muhammad, who teamed with seniors Kevin Word and Eddie Giles on the Jackrabbits' triumphant 3,200 relay that timed 7:43.43 to hold off a late charge by Jamaica's Holmwood Tech (7:45.01).

Poly had a seemingly insurmountable lead after legs by Sylvie (1:57.7), Word (1:54.2) and Muhammad (1:55.9). Spurred by a support from a large Jamaican flag-waving following, Holmwood Tech's Jermaine Myers closed rapidly on Poly's Giles (1:55.6) down the stretch with a 1:50.3 anchor.

``We knew they were going to bring it to us but we showed them what we had,'' Muhammad said.

`We thought we were going to have to go to faster but it was difficult with the weather. It felt like you're representing the whole United States not just California. It was like America vs. Jamaica.''

The victories in the boys 1,600 and 3,200 relays brought Poly's total to four in the three-day meet that featured more than 22,000 competitors.

On Friday, Jackrabbit girls posted wins in the 1,600 relay with a national record and 400 relay on Friday. Poly set a state record in the 3,200 relay in finishing second as the top U.S. school. Junior Shalonda Solomon was named the girls relay athlete of the meet after anchoring the 400 and 1,600 relays to triumphs.

``This is fantastic. I don't even have words to describe it,'' Poly coach Don Norford said. ``I am at a loss for words finally. It's unbelievable how the kids responded, especially in a pressure meet like this. For them to come all the way from California and run as well as they did is just amazing.''

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