Holmwood take High School Girls' 4x400m at Penn Relays

Holmwood Technical High School defeated rivals Hydel High School in the High School Girls' Championships of America 4x400m race at the Penn Relays this afternoon.

After a delay of about 50 minutes because of lightning, the race was run in torrential rain and cold weather, and Holmwood Technical, from cold Christiana, Manchester, used the conditions to their likings to surprise Hydel, the defending champions in the event. The Ferry based team were seeking to make it three in a row, but Holmwood won in 3:37.20 minutes, relegating them to second in 3:38.01 and Spalding High School, third in 3:43.83.

It was close going after the first two legs but Holmwood's Rickiann Russell, on the third leg, ran intelligently to give anchor runner Kavia Francis a healthy lead ahead of Hydel's Charokee Young. Despite a brilliant leg by Young, who clocked 52.08 seconds, the task was too much as Francis held her cool to give her team their first win since 2010.

Dwight Jones, assistant coach of Holmwood, was a happy man and said that the cold and rainy weather helped his team.

"When we saw the weather conditions, we fancied our chances as this is what we are used to at home, and they relished the conditions and were able to score a big win," he said.