The Collingswood girls won their second straight South Jersey Small-School 1,600-Meter Relay title Thursday at the Penn Relays, edging Delsea by exactly one second.
Collingswood ran 4:01.66 last year and ran 4:00.51 to win this year. They’re the first to repeat in 14 years, since Bishop Eustace won in 2004 (4:03.88) and 2005 (4:03.58).
Junior Emily Wallace led off with a 58.65 leg that got Collingswood into first, and sophomore Jaaliyah Evans held the lead with a 59.66 split. Seniors Dash Cruz (1:01.68) and Samantha Hamrick (1:00.54) finished off the race for the Panthers.
Wallace, Cruz and Hamrick were also on last year’s winning team, along with Taylor Perkowski, who graduated.
Fastest split of the race belonged to senior Courtney Smith, who anchored Pennsville’s fourth-place team (4:06.39) in 54.84. Smith was state Group 1 champion in the high and intermediate hurdles last spring
Other sub-60 splits belonged to Aalliyha Fox of Delsea (58.90), Meredith Updike of Cinnaminson (59.46), Amirah Sharpe of Paulsboro (59.80) and Carly Nicholson of Delsea (59.79).
All-Time Penn Relays Small School 4-by-400 Winners
2019 … Collingswood, 4:00.51
2018 … Collingswood, 4:01.66
2017 … Audubon, 4:00.44
2016 … Camden Catholic, 4:08.69
2015 … Pemberton, 4:07.97
2014 … Delsea, 4:06.24
2013 … Camden, 4:07.24
2012 … Kingsway, 4:00.77
2011 … Camden, 4:04.27
2010 … Willingboro, 3:54.82
2009 … Camden, 3:57.23
2008 … Haddonfield, 4:01.70
2007 … Rancocas Valley, 4:03.62
2006 … Haddonfield, 4:01.48
2005 … Bishop Eustace, 4:03.58
2004 … Bishop Eustace, 4:03.88
2003 … Haddonfield, 4:06.51
2002 … Paul VI, 4:10.34
2001 … Paul VI, 4:05.56
2000 … Woodrow Wilson, 4:02.48
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 