Maryland School Brings US#1s To Franklin Field Looking To Break Jamaican Streak

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Eamon Flynn

The stage is set this week for Bullis School at the Penn Relays. 

Coach Joe Lee and his US#1 4x400 relay teams are ready to compete for Championship of America titles and know what they are up against. 

Jamaican schools have ruled at Penn for more than 15 years. 

The last U.S. team to win the boys 4x400 at Penn was Long Beach Poly CA in 2007. The last girls team was Eleanor Roosevelt MD in 2008. 

Breaking through Jamaica's dominance has been a year-by-year effort for Lee and he loves taking on the challenge. 

Bullis is only entered in one boys event this weekend and will bring some confidence to Franklin Field. The Bulldogs have run 3:09.95, tops in the U.S., and have sophomore star Quincy Wilson to run the anchor. 

"We are pushing all our chips to the middle of the table," Lee said this week. "It's 4x4 all the way for the boys. If you can beat us, hat's off."

Bullis' lineup of Payton Payne, Kennedy Brown, Sydney Sutton and Morgan Rothwell broke the national high school record in the girls 4x400 at the Pepsi Florida Relays when it ran 3:35.23. 

Last year, Bullis' girls ran the ninth-fastest time in Penn Relays history (3:36.25) and still placed third. 

The Bulldogs are also entered in the 4x100. 

"We like our chances," Lee said. "Our kids are focused and locked in."

Bringing home the 4x400 title, and representing the U.S. against the Jamaican teams in front of a raucous Penn Relays crowd, is an exciting proposition and one of the biggest challenges in high school track. 

The girls 4x400 prelims are Thursday with the finals on Friday afternoon. 

The boys take to the track Saturday and the final could shape up as the climax of the weekend that evening. The boys 4x400 is the final major championship relay race. 

Lee has learned over the years that the Jamaican teams like to front-load their relays and build as big a lead as possible. 

He believes he has the answer with Wilson, a generational talent who has run 45.19 in the 400 this spring. 

"If it's going down to the anchor leg, I like our chances," Lee said. 

Wilson and his teammates, Alexander Lambert, Julian Roberson and Colin Abrams, will need to be sharp in the prelims in order to make the final. Bullis' prelim includes Holmwood Tech and St. Elizabeth Tech of Jamaica, and also Archbishop Carroll of D.C.

"As a fan, I love it," Lee said. "It's been a while since we had this much buzz."

Last year, as a freshman, Wilson ran a 45.06 split and the team finished sixth. 

Bullis' boys have reached the Championship of America race four times, including a second-place finish in 2022 with a team that ran 3:11.90. 

Bullis' girls finished second in the 4x100 last year in addition to third in the 4x400.