Previewing The COA 4x100m And 4x400m At The Penn Relays

* Bullis School (left) and Edwin Allen will return as two of the top teams in the girls Championship of America 4x400m at the 2023 Penn Relays.

Photo Credit: Joe Swift/MileSplit

We're merely days away from the start of one of track and field's most revered championship events.

The 2023 Penn Relays presented by Toyota will feature some of the world's top high school talents, and the Championship of America fields for the 4x100m and 4x400m will produce some key highlights.

Which teams should you look out for in those events?

Continue below for our previews of the high school Championships of American boys and girls 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the 2023 Penn Relays.

Full 4x100m And 4x400m Entries

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Girls 4x100m

If there's one key storyline to pay attention to in the girls 4x100m relay, it's has to be the competition between Edwin Allen and Hydel.

The two Jamaican prep rivals have developed quite the back-and-forth in the 4x100m on the international stage, and it will be no different this year at Penn Relays as they headline the Championship of America field.

Edwin Allen enters as the returning champion from 2022 after clocking a blistering 43.18 to secure the title ahead of Hydel in second in 43.69. 

But 2023 could provide a different narrative. At the ISSA Grace Kennedy championships in March, Hydel took down Edwin Allen with a time of 44.33. Edwin Allen finished as the runner-up in 44.77.

Outside of those two powerhouses, though, who can we expect to be in the lead mix as well? 

Look no further than Bullis School (MD), who is no stranger to the international stage at Franklin Field. They were the runner-ups in the 4x400m last year and have clocked a nation-leading 44.67 this outdoor season.

They'll enter as the third-best seed in the field and could put up a challenge in both the prelims and final round.

Boys 4x100m

IMG currently holds the second-best time in the country this season with a 40.11 winning mark from the Texas Relays, and the squad includes a 1-2 punch from sub-10.40 racers in Davonte Howell and Jerrae Hawkins. 

For Archbishop Carroll (DC), the difference maker could be 5-star football recruit Nyckoles Harbor, the 6-5, 235-pound monster of an athlete who has already clocked 10.31 this season in the open 100m. 

So far, the group has posted a season best of 40.81 from last weeken'ds McNamara Mustang Invitational.

And the Archbishop Carroll (DC) sprint team is no stranger to hitting all-time marks. At adidas Track Nationals, the 4x200m squad nearly broke the indoor national record with their 1:25.63 US No. 2 all-time winning effort.

Can the American high school teams challenge? Most certainly. But with stiff competitors and relay teams who have all shown that they can go under 41 seconds, it could very well come down to a lean at the line to determine a winner.

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Girls 4x400m

Last year's second- and third-place finishers will look to upgrade their hardware from 2022 in the girls 4x400m final.

Edwin Allen of Jamaica, who took second last year in 3:39.76, and Bullis School (MD), clocking 3:40.88 for third in 2022, will be the headliners in the 2023 field at Penn Relays.

However, Edwin Allen enters the Penn Relays in a whole different position compared to where they were last year. Just a month ago, their 4x400m team registered an astonishing 3:31.78 to win the gold at the ISSA Grace Kennedy Championships. 

That's eight seconds better than their runner-up time from Penn in 2022.

But don't count out Bullis School (MD) who has veteran leaders in Sage Hinton, Sydney Sutton, Lauren Leath and others that hold vast experience competing at the Penn Relays. They're fastest 400m runner this season currently is senior Mirai Bernard, who clocked 54.41 at the Bullis Bulldog Invitational.

Bernard, Hinton, Sutton and Leath have all gone under 56 seconds so far this outdoor season. 

Their best 4x400m effort so far in 2023 comes from the Florida Relays where they took second in 3:37.98, which is also the second-best mark in the nation.

Other notable teams include Jamaican high school teams in Wolmer's Boys And Girls, St. Catherine, Piscataway and Saint Elizabeth Tech, and remaining top American teams Piscataway (NJ) and Henderson Liberty (NV) to round out the top seven seeds.

Boys 4x400m

Last year's runner-up in Bullis School (MD) makes the trip back to Penn in 2023 as the top returner to the boys 4x400m Championship of America race.

And one can expect that the Bullis group this year could chase after even more, thanks in large part to one key member of their unit: Quincy Wilson.

Wilson has had a historic freshman year as he claimed a national indoor title in the 400m at New Balance Nationals Indoor and rewrote the freshman class indoor record book in everything in the 300m up to the 500m.

And with his sub-47-second speed in the 400m, Wilson could be the game-changing factor that helps Bullis secure a Penn Relays wheel by meet's end.

Wilson made his outdoor debut with a 46.74 400m win at the Bullis Bulldog Invitational in mid-April.

In 2023, Bullis has so far gone 3:14.84 in the boys 4x400m, and the team ran 3:11.09 on the Penn Relays stage last year. It will likely take a time equal to 3:11 or faster to secure a win this weekend.

Competitors looking to be in the mix with Bullis include Saint Elizabeth Tech (JAM), who is the top overall seed just ahead of the Maryland program, and Queen's Royal (JAM). Poly Prep Country Day (NY) and Episcopal Academy (PA) could also put up solid performances and round out the top American high school contingent in the boys 4x400m.