East Orange Campus HS track teams impress at Penn Relays

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School boys and girls track-and-field teams made a strong impression at the prestigious Penn Relays held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa., last weekend.

The boys team, under head coach Lance Wigfall, took first place in Heat No. 7 of the 4×100 meter relay in 42.87 seconds on Friday, April 29. The unit consisted of seniors Javon Soiro, Geraldo Gibson, Kyle Louis and Christopher Amos.

It was the fastest time of all 13 heats. There were 117 teams in the heats.

With that performance, the team advanced to the 4×100 Northeast race the next day. Out of eight teams, East Orange Campus finished in seventh place in a time of 43.81. Wilson Area School District, of Pennsylvania, finished in first place in 42.012; followed by Coatesville, of Pennsylvania, in second place at 42.016; Seton Hall Prep in third place in 42.09; Downingtown West, of Pennsylvania, in fourth place in 42.23; Episcopal Academy, of Pennsylvania, in fifth place in 42.39; Nottingham in sixth place in 42.70; East Orange Campus in seventh place; and Jackson Memorial in eighth place in 44.23.

Also on Saturday, April 30, the final day of the three-day meet, the EOCHS boys 4×400 meter relay finished in second place in its heat in 3:19.82. The EOCHS runners were Lewis, Gibson, junior Michael Henderson and Amos. There were 11 teams that competed in the heat. Herbert Morrison Tech, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, took first place in 3:18.18.

Wigfall was pleased with his runners’ performances.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the progression of the team thus far,” he said in an email to the Record–Transcript. “We have some ways to go. We as a coaching staff must remain smart with our workouts and have a strong level of patience, as we still have another half of the season to go with a host of championship meets ahead of us, including conference, county states and nationals.”

The EOCHS girls competed at the Penn Relays on Thursday, April 28. They finished in fifth place out of nine teams in Heat No. 3 of the 4×100 meter relay team. Sophomores Apple Brown and Stephanie Delouis, and seniors Vegonia Jean-Baptiste and Kahliyah Smith clocked 51.16. 

In its 4×400 meter heat, the same quartet finished ninth out of 13 teams in 4:15.34. 

The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track-and-field meet in the country. The first year of the meet was in 1895. The meet was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

The EOCHS boys and girls teams are gearing up for the Essex County Relays on Friday, May 6, at Livingston.

Photos Courtesy of Lance Wigfall