Seniors Bryce Tucker and Premier Wynn, unable to contest all their events because of the revised one-day meet structure, still powered Pennsauken to its 3rd state championship in the last seven years.
With the meet curtailed from two days to one because of air quality concerns on Friday, Tucker had to give up the 400 and Wynn had to give up the 400 hurdles.
But even losing potential huge points, Pennsauken still rode the two brilliant seniors to a 56-53 win over 2nd-place Westfield and the state Group 4 title at Franklin Township.
Pennsauken asserted itself as the best public school team in the state, winning the toughest, deepest and most competitive group by 13 points.
Westfield elbowed its way back into the meet with a 1-2-4 finish in the 1,600, the 22 points pulling the Blue Devils within three points of Pennsauken at 56-53 going into the 4-by-4.
Westfield then ran 3:23.62 in an unseeded heat to put a little pressure on Pennsauken. But the Indians responded with a commanding win in the final section, with Jennings, freshman KaRon Ali, Wynn and Tucker running 3:14.78, Wynn splitting 47.14 and Tucker 47.90.
Tucker easily won his specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, in 52.69, and Wynn easily won his specialty, the flat 400, in 47.68.
Wynn came back to win the 200 in a big PR 21.55, and Tucker ran a high hurdles PR of 13.87 to finish behind New Jersey No. 1 Nathaniel Ryan of Scotch Plains, who won in a state-best 13.45.
So even without Tucker in the 400 or Wynn in the intermediates, Wynn scored 20 points in his two individual races and Tucker added 18.
Tucker or Wynn had a hand in every point Pennsauken scored – other than Jennings’ 4th-place in the 200.
Junior Elijah Jennings also chipped in with four huge points in the 200 with a PR 22.15 out of an unseeded heat.
Jennings, junior Bronze Whitmore, Wynn and senior Robert Bayard ran a season-best 42.15 to give Pennsauken a close win in the 4-by-1 – Livingston finished 7-100ths of a second back – and then Pennsauken wrapped things up by running 3:1
The Indians also won state titles in Group 3 in 2016 and 2021. Pennsauken is the first South Jersey school to win Group 4 since Rancocas Valley in 2015.
Pennsauken won sectionals and states indoors and out this year as well as state relays indoors, an impressive year-long sweep.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 