Photo by: Jackson Polin
The Distance Medaly Relay, commonly known as the DMR, consists of 1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m legs in that order is one of the hardest relays for any school to get into at The Penn Relays, as only 15 total teams per gender get into the race. It takes a time close to or even under 10:10 for high school boys, and a time nearing the 12:00 minute barrier for the girls.
Boys teams:
Four of the top five seeds on the boys side of things come from PA, with the #1 seed being Mifflin County, who won NBNI in the DMR running 10:05. Mifflin definitely has to be the favorite with their 4:00 anchor, Carter Smith, being one of the top 800m and milers in the county.
Some other teams that we could see contend for the title are North Penn, which has Musa Herzi on the leadoff leg. Could we see a sub-3:00 leadoff from the junior? Herzi holds PRs of 1:52 over 800m and 4:18 over 1600m.
Lower Merion has to be another team thrown in the mix when talking about winning a wheel. The twins will be on both leadoff and anchor. As of now, Alexander Mazzeo is listed as the 1200m leg with Nicholas Mazzeo on the 1600m leg. Both twins hold PRs of 4:11 over 1600m, with Alex having the slightly faster PR.
Christian Brothers Academy has to be a team to look out for as they've won the DMR the past 2 years. Can they complete the 3-pete? With Gavin Schmitt and Luke Hnatt on the leadoff and anchor, they will definitely be in contention.
La Salle College is the final team from PA in the race, and they are definitely one of the top teams. Their success will rely heavily on how fast Bobby Franklin can run on the anchor. The indoor state champ over the mile holds a PR of 4:10 from a year ago and 4:13 over the full mile indoors.
Girls Teams:
Eleven of the fifteen teams slated to run the DMR in the girls' race come from New Jersey. This race will be dominated by NJ without a question, as they hold more than two-thirds of the total teams in the race, and the clear and overwhelming favorite is Union Catholic, as they broke the indoor national record in the event and won the same event last year. The only question is how fast will they run? Will Paige Sheppard break 4:30 on the anchor?
Some of the other top teams in the race are Shenendehowa East, Ridge, and Ridgewood. All three of them were very close to, if not under, the 12-minute barrier indoors.
