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 | 115th Penn Relays
Thu.-Sat., April 23-25, 2009
Franklin Field, Philadelphia PA
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Up and down weekend for Lawrenceville
BY RICH BEVENSEE
PHILADELPHIA, April 25, 2009 -- The 115th Penn Relays has been a short series of ups and downs for the Lawrenceville NJ boys track team.
The school’s 4x800-meter relay won its large school heat on Friday and qualified for the Championship of America race for the first time in school history, but the team elected to pass on the final because two of its members were still banged up from injuries sustained during the indoor season.
Yesterday at Franklin Field, Lawrenceville endured another bittersweet moment. The foursome of Matt Gonzalez, Nehemiah Paramore, and brothers Lamar Hayes and Leonard Hayes won their 4x400 prep school heat in 3:19.60, a school record by two seconds and the fourth-fastest time by a New Jersey team at the meet.
The catch is that Lawrenceville came up agonizingly short in its pursuit of the meet’s ancient prep school record, which is the 3:19.3 set in 1939 by LaSalle Military Academy of Oakdale NY.
Leonard Hayes contributed to the old school record of 3:21.61 two years ago when Lawrenceville placed fourth at the East Coast Relays.
``We were pretty disappointed about coming so close but we were happy about getting below 3:20,’’ said Leonard Hayes, a senior who is headed for Stony Brook next season to play basketball.
``For Matt and I, it was a disappointing feeling because we’re seniors and this was our last shot here, and we both felt like we could have had faster splits,’’ Hayes said.
Gonzalez (50.6), junior Paramore (49.3), sophomore Lamar Hayes (49.7) and Leonard Hayes (49.6), who battled runner-up St. Benedict’s Prep of Newark (3:24.66) throughout the race, combined to be one of two New Jersey teams with three splits under 50 seconds. Rahway, the fastest Jersey team of the day at 3:17.59, was the other.
Only Rahway, Timber Creek (3:19.35) and Columbia (3:19.54) posted faster times than Lawrenceville among all New Jersey relays.
Leonard Hayes said he knew he was on the verge of history as he rounded the final turn.
``I definitely felt pressure to get there,’’ Hayes said. ``I actually looked at the clock with 20 meters left and saw it said 3:17. I thought I would make it, but I came up short. It’s frustrating to know I got that close.’’
Gonzalez and Paramore were members of Lawrenceville’s 4x800 team which won its heat in 7:49.70, the fourth-fastest time of the meet. Ron Harwood and Tim Hillas, who had not raced at all during the spring until Penn due to injuries, handled the middle two legs of the 4x800. Both boys elected not to run in the finals to avoid aggravating their injuries.
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