Competing in terrible conditions, Millville senior Leah Howard placed 3rd in the javelin Friday at the 127th annual Penn Relays at the grass throwing fields across the Amtrak lines from Franklin Field in West Philadelphia.
Howard popped a 148-7 on her first throw and that held up for 3rd place behind Julia Magliaro of Trinity School of Hicksville, N.Y. [164-7] and Belle Bosch of Chestnut Ridge of New Paris, Pa. [150-7].
Howard surpassed 140 feet on two other throws – 142-9 on her 3rd attempt and 144-10 on her 4th.
According to the MileSplit national database, Howard ranks No. 3 nationally and No. 2 in state history at 163-1 from the Woodbury Relays last weekend behind Trinity Spooner of South Beauregard in Longville, La. (171-11) and Magliaro.
Her finish is best by a South Jersey girl in the Penn Relays since 2000, when Haddonfield Olympian Erin Donohue took 2nd with a 139-10, finishing behind only Anna Bobiak of Villa Maria of Malvern, Pa. Later in the day, Donohue ran a 4:58 anchor on Haddonfield’s DMR team, which ran 12:02.34 and finished 2nd to San Lorenzo Valley High of Felton, Calif.
Lynlee Phillips of Shawnee placed 2nd in the 1998 Penn Relays with a throw of 136-5 with the old javelin. Susan Warnick of Meyersdale High in Summit Township, Somerset County, Pa., won the meet that year with a 138-9.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 