The Willingboro girls ran the 7th-fastest 400-meter relay in state history Saturday at West Philly Nationals and placed 3rd for their 3rd All-America performance in three days.
With a lineup listed in the official results as Kalia Speight, Maya Bolden, Jade Pinder and Nester Wea, the Chimeras ran 46.20 at Franklin Field, just 1-100th of a second off the South Jersey record of 46.19 set by Timber Creek last spring at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea.
Willingboro placed 5th in the 800-meter relay in 1:37.96 on Friday and 2nd in the shuttle hurdles earlier Sunday in 59.25.
Wea has run on all three of those All-America relay teams, and Speight and Bolden were on both the 4-by-1 and 4-by-2.
Bullis School of Potomac, Md., won the race in 44.80 and Archbishop Carroll of Washington, D.C., was 2nd in 45.32, with Willingboro next.
Willingboro lowered the Burlington County record from 46.71 that the Chimeras just set two weeks ago at the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken.
Four of the five-fastest 4-by-1 times in South Jersey have come since 2023 – Timber Creek’s 46.19 last year, Willingboro’s 46.20 today, Timber Creek’s 46.43 at 2023 West Philly Nationals and Pennsauken’s 46.95 at the Meet of Champions earlier this month.
The South Jersey record before 2023 was Eastern’s 46.87 in 2003, and that’s now No. 4.
All-Time New Jersey 400-Meter Relay List
45.48 … Union Catholic, 2024
45.50 … Montclair, 1998
45.53 … Union Catholic, 2025
45.89 … Columbia, 2010
46.08 … Trenton, 1984
46.19 … Timber Creek, 2024
46.20 … Willingboro, 2025
46.40 … Union Catholic, 2023
46.42 … Franklin Twp., 2003
46.43 … Timber Creek, 2023
46.84 … Piscataway, 2014
46.87 … Eastern, 2003
46.89 … Franklin Twp., 2001
46.90 … Paramus Catholic, 2010
46.95 … Pennsauken, 2025
46.96 … Columbia, 2009
46.98 … Winslow Twp., 2017
All-Time South Jersey 400-Meter Relay List
46.19 … Timber Creek, 2024
46.20 … Willingboro, 2025
46.43 … Timber Creek, 2023
46.87 … Eastern, 2003
46.95 … Pennsauken, 2025
46.98 … Winslow Twp., 2017
46.9h … Willingboro, 1980
47.06 … Winslow Twp., 2014
47.07 … Winslow Twp., 2025
47.18 … Winslow Twp., 2013
47.19 … Winslow Twp., 2018
47.25 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2018
47.27 … Delsea, 2017
47.36 … Eastern, 2019
47.36 … Rancocas Valley, 2025
47.40 … Winslow Twp., 2016
47.40 … Winslow Twp., 2025
47.3h … Willingboro, 1981
47.45 … Willingboro, 1994
47.49 … Rancocas Valley, 2017
47.53 … Millville, 2019
47.53 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
47.54 … Winslow Twp., 2003
47.54 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
47.4h … Camden,, 1978
47.4y … Camden, 1979
47.72 … Pennsauken, 2024
47.75 … Eastern, 2002
47.76 … Winslow Twp., 2005
47.76 … Winslow Twp., 2012
47.78 … Willingboro, 2023
47.79 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2021
47.81 … Haddonfield, 2024
47.82 … Moorestown, 2000
47.84 … Kingsway, 2025
47.85 … Deptford, 2015
47.87 … Winslow Twp., 2011
47.9h … Willingboro, 1995
47.8h … Willingboro, 2003
47.94 … Camden, 2000
47.96 … Winslow Twp., 2024
47.98 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2019
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 