Blue Devils Capture Silver Medals at Penn Relays

The Huntington boys’ track team took a silver medal at the Penn Relays in the 4x400m high school division relay race at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field last weekend.

The Blue Devils were edged by Maryland’s Springbrook by less than three seconds (3:23.86). Huntington’s Robbie Campbell, Titan Elysee, Adan Ntambwe and Eric Heinz turned in a time of 3:26.68 to finish second.

Huntington bested relay teams from New York, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Jamaica.

“It was a great experience running at Penn Relays,” Campbell said. “I went last year as an alternate and wanted to run, but there were guys who were better than me. I worked hard this indoor season and finally got my chance to run in that huge stadium. It was a bit intimidating, but my nerves settled. We got silver medals, which is nice, but we really wanted to win the ‘Wheel Award’ for our school. I have one more year and I will bring one of those back to Huntington like they did over 10 years ago. Seeing the college athletes compete and professional athletes compete is really awesome. From watching kids jump to running on the track has been amazing.”

Difficulty arranging for transportation to the meet almost prevented the Huntington athletes from racing, which they have done annually for at least 15 years.

“Coach [Ron] Wilson told us that Mr. [Christopher] Hender, the deputy superintendent, made it possible for us to go, so we appreciate him,” Campbell said. “We didn’t take a coach bus like we have done in the past, but we’re thankful we had bus transportation to allowed us to go on the trip.”

Wilmer Benitez, Zayvion McCoy, Yasir Jones and Elysee also competed in the Penn Relays, running in a heat of the 4x100m relay, but they failed to advance to the finals.