The Camden Diocese’s best elementary school runners had the chance to bask in a major spotlight as they competed in the 2024 Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
The annual three-day event is known as the oldest and largest track and field competition in the country, drawing the eyes of tens of thousands of spectators during those 72 hours. Taking place in early spring since 1895, the Penn Relays have offered a chance for athletes to perform on the national stage for at least a few moments.
This year, Christ the King Regional School in Haddonfield won both the boys and girls 4×100 relays on April 26.
“The entire coaching staff and the Christ the King community are very proud of our team’s performance,” coach Matthew Skahill said. “The relay runners and alternates put in a lot of time and effort at practice, and it paid off in a big way.”
The girls team of Dylan Hall, Jade Hough, Valerie DeLu and Yasmine Willie raced to Christ the King’s fourth straight Diocese of Camden win, dating back to 2019, as the event was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. The girls took gold in a time of 55.97, edging out Haddon Heights’ Saint Rose of Lima School (57.33) and Merchantville’s Saint Peter School (58.78), which took silver and bronze, respectively.
On the boys’ side, Christ the King’s team of Patrick Blum, Daniel Braem, Thomas Coelho and Brandon Abalos ran a blazing time of 49.81 to win the school’s first title since 2013. They finished more than a second ahead of Resurrection Catholic School, Cherry Hill (51.58), and Saint Rose of Lima (51.67), who were neck-and-neck for second and third.
“We knew the teams would be up against some great competition,” Skahill said. “But knowing how hard our athletes trained for the relays, we knew they were going to give a great effort – and they did.”
Saint Rose of Lima had its best combined showing in years with its second-place girls team and its third-place boys team. Only nine teams from the Diocese qualify each year for the Penn Relays, so it’s no guarantee to even punch a ticket to the Penn Relays, but Saint Rose has proven itself a staple at the games for several decades.
“The Camden Diocese started bringing teams to the Penn Relays in 1992,” coach Carole Fesi said. “That first year, we didn’t have anyone qualify, but since then, we’ve had either a girls team or a boys team or both qualify. It’s pretty darn good.”
The Saint Rose girls team of Keira Valvardi, Arabella Hadden, Ava Cavallaro and Annabelle Campanell earned the school’s third straight second-place finish at the Penn Relays. The boys team of Charlie Fleming, Kaleb Noonan, Ryan Fleming and Dylan Goldbach made a big leap from seventh-place last year to third. Both are inching closer to regaining the top prize as the school last won the girls’ race in 2014 and the boys’ race in 2016.
“We had a lot of rain this year, so we had to rearrange a lot of practices but we got through it all,” Fesi said. “The parents were really great about changing schedules, and everyone worked together. I’m really proud … and I hope that they are proud of themselves, too.”
This year’s Penn Relays brought 99,701 in attendance during three days from April 25-27.
“It’s kind of mind-blowing when you walk in there,” Fesi said. “No matter how much you explain to them [students] … they’re going to look up and go, ‘Oh my gosh.’ They’re going to tell me the track is bigger than 400 meters, but it isn’t. I’m sure they were nervous, but it’s a great experience.”
There was even more cheering from behind beyond the stadium. “There was a livestream of the race played at school so the whole Christ the King community was cheering for our teams,” Skahill said.
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