Malachi James is indeed back at Willingboro, but he did not run on the Chimeras’ winning 4-by-200 team Saturday at the Don Danser Relays at Lenape.
Even though the results say he did.
James did indeed transfer from Willingboro to Eastern and back to Willingboro but he’s still dealing with the injury that kept him out of the indoor season and not ready to race just yet.
Willingboro opened the season with an 800-meter relay win at the Don Danser Relays that was notable for who was in the Chimeras’ lineup.
Sophomore Malachi James, the state Group 1 champion at 100 and 200 meters last spring, is listed as running the third leg for Boro, which won the race in chilly, breezy conditions at Lenape in 1:33.00.
James transferred to Eastern over the summer and played football for Eastern this past fall. He did not compete in indoor track, and it’s unclear if he was at Eastern or Willingboro during the winter, but he’s back at Willingboro now.
As a freshman, James ran 10.76 at the Meet of Champions prelims and 21.82 at the County Open. He became the first freshman ever to place in the top eight in the M-of-C in both the 100 and 200.
According to the 4-by-2 results, seniors Miles Allen and Geordan Collins, James and senior Nam Louis Foster ran for Willingboro. We don’t know who actually ran along with Allen, Collins and Foster.
Willingboro had a terrific winter, winning the Group 1 relays and state group meet and placing 14th in the country in the 4-by-200 with a 1:30.96 at Armory Nationals. Allen, Collins, sophomore Jackson Murry and senior Jaylen Young ran on that team.
On Saturday, Young and Murry joined Allen and Collins to run 44.49 on the 4-by-1, and Allen, Collins, Chris Johnson and Murry ran 3:31.76 for a close second to Sterling in the 4-by-4. Murry and Bryon James also won the pole vault relay.
Willingboro also won the shuttle hurdles in 1:08.05 with sophomore Eric Foster, junior Xavier Toliver, sophomore Kedaar Wilson and Johnson anchoring.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 