Muschett High athletes eager to compete at their first Penn Relays
PHILADELPHIA, United States – Muschett High School’s track and field head coach, Garth Smythe, is confident that his athletes will represent the institution well as they make their first-ever appearance at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday.
Muschett will be competing in the boys’ and girls’ 4x100m and 4x400m relay events respectively at the three-day championships, which will be held at Franklin Field Stadium.
Their girls’ team will be led by the impressive Shanoya Douglas, who secured the Class Two double in the 200m and 400m at Champs, and achieved a personal best of 52.96s in the 400m semi-finals. Douglas,16, recently clocked a personal best time of 23.16 seconds to clinch the gold medal in the girls’ Under-20 200m event at Carifta.
On the boys’ side, their team will be led by Johan-Ramaldo Smythe, who captured the gold medal in the boys’ Class Two 200m event at Champs last month. Coach Smythe expressed that his athletes are eagerly anticipating their first time competing at the Penn Relays, especially as for most of them, it will be their first international meet overseas.
“The kids are very excited, and they are looking forward to the experience of competing at the Penn Relays for the first time,” said Smythe. “This is a significant moment for the school and everyone in and around the school community is excited for us and eager to see how well the kids will perform at this championship,” he added.
“I think people may have heard about us through Champs and the Carifta Games, but this event is on a much larger scale, and it is an opportunity for a wider diaspora to get to know us,” Smythe emphasised.
Muschett held their first training session yesterday in temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature is expected to drop to 69 degrees for today’s start of the championships. However, Smythe highlighted that his athletes have prepared themselves well for the cold conditions in Philadelphia, and everyone is ready and eager to compete.
“We have been preparing them mentally and physically for an event like this because we know it’s going to be cold over here. We did some workouts this morning (Wednesday), and everyone performed well, so I know they are ready to compete on Thursday,” he said.
“We have as good a chance as anybody because once we go out there and execute, then I believe we’ll be competitive,” Smythe underscored.
-Robert Bailey