Willingboro senior Nester Wea, sophomore Maya Bolden, junior Kaila Speight and sophomore Jade Pinder advanced to the 400-Meter Relay final at West Philly Nationals Saturday at Franklin Field.
The Chimeras ran 46.87, not far off their 46.71 from the Meet of Champions, 10th-fastest in state history and 3rd-fastest in South Jersey history.
The 400-meter relay is only two rounds, so only the eight-fastest teams out of 70 entrants advanced.
Willingboro won the 8th of nine semifinal races and finished with the 6th-fastest qualifying time. The cutoff was 47.00. Willingboro is the only New Jersey school that advanced. Pennsauken, with juniors Sanaya Dupree, Olivia Dupree, sophomore Abigayle John and junior Sianni Wynn, who won the 100 on Friday, ran 47.28 and finished 11th overall.
Rancocas Valley ran 48.61 with junior Angelina Brown, junior Rhyann Roseboro, senior Jordyn Hickson and junior Autumn Austin.
The final is scheduled for 1:28 p.m. on Sunday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 