Penn Relays: Carey helps Minutemen 4x800 to silver, school record - Day 2

(Pub April 25)
PHILADELPHIA – Hidden away on the third leg of Washington Township's 4x800, junior Tim Carey can easily be forgotten.
In fact, if done right, Carey hands off the lead to anchor Xavier Fraction, who, in turn, blazes to a glorious finish, leaving everyone before Fraction remembered as just that: everyone before Fraction.
But entering the Penn Relays Friday, coach Rich Bostwick had trouble forgetting Carey's 1,600 performance last Tuesday. Carey struggled to break five minutes in the dual meet, an atypical performance for someone accustomed to breaking 2:00 in the 800.
"He said he was trying," Bostwick said. "Tell me that shouldn't scare me."
But if Bostwick's confidence in Carey wavered at all Saturday, he didn't show it, keeping Carey -- one fourth of the relay team that once held the nation's best time this past winter -- in the fastest 4x800 heat at the Penn Relays.
"We got to have him there because he might run up to his potential," he said, "and that is 1:52."
The move helped the Minutemen's team of Steve Morrone, Nick Krauss, Carey and Fraction finish second in both its heat and the field of 70 teams in 7:51.07, a school record.
With an estimated crowd of 39,904 looking on, Carey belt out a 1:58.1, a time bested by only one teammate, Fraction, who clocked in the second fastest leg of the meet, a blazing 1:54.7 that swallowed three frontrunners. Hillsborough, NJ. won in 7:47.44.
"They didn't give up. They went for it and took some chances," Bostwick said.
The Minutemen had their chance to compete against the country's best teams at the Indoor National Championships last winter, but Bostwick opted not to, knowing that a race that deep into the indoor season would disrupt their spring training.
So the big test was moved to April 26, a day known by track athletes as the middle block of Penn's three-day meet, and one known by Washington Township juniors, including Carey, Fraction and Krauss (1:58.6), as the Junior Prom.
Despite every relay member but sophomore Morrone (1:59.7) morphing into tuxedoes Friday night, Bostwick said the focus never shifted.
"They're been wanting this one ever since indoors," he said.
The performance advances the Minutemen and the day's other top seven teams to today's Championship of America 4x800. If the Minutemen should contend today, they would need to be conscious of their international competition," Bostwick said.
"We know a lot of those Jamaican schools were just chilling," he said. "They weren't running all out. They'll be ready to go out a lot faster tomorrow. We're just hoping to put four legs together."
Washington Township did well in the field too with shot putter Kwabena Keene placing fifth after throwing 56-7.75.
Despite medaling, the University of North Carolina-bound senior said he was disappointed that he didn't gain any ground on the giants from North Jersey, Morristown freshman Nicholas Vena (63-6.5) and Scotch Plains-Fairwood senior Mike Alleman (62-1.5), who dwarf Keene in both skill and size.
"I'm trying to become the Goliath," Keene said. "I know I'm definitely the David compared to them, because Alleman and Vena are definitely not small people. I'm trying to get there though."
Pleasantville's 4x100 team of Richard Gregory, Kenny Davis, Jamal Roberts and Raymond Wilson will compete in the Small Schools Championship of America 4x100 today after making the eight-team cutoff by a mere five hundredths of a second after winning its heat in a season-best 42.88.
"I'm surprised that we made it back," coach Alan Laws said. "I didn't expect that out of the 4x100. I thought we were going to run good, but I just wanted them to warm up their legs for the 4x400 tomorrow."
The Greyhounds are the lone small-school team to represent New Jersey today and will line against five superior Jamaican teams, one of which ran 40.72. Davis, the fastest leg, said his team is not daunted by the challenge.
"They're just like us -- they're just faster," the senior said, "but we can do the same thing they do. We just got to work harder.
"If we have somebody to run with, we'll gonna push ourselves harder. "
Winslow Township's relay team of Rueben Johnson, Darin Washington, Keith Robinson and Barry Cephas finished seventh in the Large Schools 4x100 in a state-best 42.43 and will also compete today.
Other South Jersey performers include Woodstown senior Brian Owens, who took 10th overall in the Javelin Throw Championships after blasting a 186-11, and Haddonfield sophomore Boo Vitez, who placed 14th in the 3,000 in 8:49.93
"I was trying to go with them for [2,000] and see what I had left for [1,000]," said Vitez, who shot for 8:50.