Quincy Wilson Anchors His Team To First Sub 3:10 Effort Indoors; Sydney Sutton Beats The Clock In Girls Race To Reclaim Record

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Photos by Adam Parshall

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

BOSTON – The number of national records broken by Bullis MD over the past decade, especially in the relays, continues to grow with each passing season, but each of them has a unique story that defines the moments.

On Sunday, it was a back-to-back national HSRs for the boys and the girls in the 4x400 relays at New Balance Nationals Indoor at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston. 

The boys story:

Cameron Homer, Alexander Lambert, Colin Abrams and Quincy Wilson showed the world what once seemed unthinkable for a high school 4x400 relay team is indeed possible. They became the first group to break 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

Anchored by the team's Olympic gold medalist, Wilson, in 45.94, Bullis lowered its own record of 3:11.87 from a year ago to 3:09.44.

“We’ve been working hard and getting better and better,” Wilson said. “The more we’re together, the better we’re going to get. We’re like brothers and family that push each other.”

Homer, who finished third in the open 400 meters on Saturday in 46.66, led off with a strong start, clocking 47.52 on the lead off leg to hold a two-second advantage over the rest of the field.

Lambert got the baton next but felt the pressure of North Track Club’s second leg as he closed his split in 47.6 before handing off to Abrams with a one-second lead.

Abrams, who felt disappointed in his 800 meters race Saturday night, split 48.36, giving Wilson a two-second advantage.

“I tried to have a short term memory,” Abrams said of his 800. “Last night did not go how I wanted it to, but at the end of the day I could only focus on today and what was ahead me.”

What lay ahead for Abram and Bullis was another national record, and a time that was only .01 seconds off the outdoor school record of 3:09.44 from last April at the Florida Relays.

“3:09 is right around where we thought we could get,” Bullis coach Joe Lee said. “We actually thought we could be faster than that, but it’s a long meet. Four days of running, travel, intense, mental, emotional, physical competition. It just tells you how good those boys are.”

At this time last year, Bullis ran 3:11.87, then took two seconds off during outdoor.

So, what’s possible for this year’s outdoor season? That story is to be continued. This is a group that loves to go all-in at Penn Relays. 

The girls story:

A great comeback is everyone’s favorite storyline and the Bullis girls avenged a tough loss from a year ago in the best way possible.

Kennedy Brown, Chrishelle Campbell, Morgan Rothwell and Sydney Sutton not only broke Montverde’s national record time of 3:37.63, they ANNIHILATED it, running 3:35.54 to reclaim the girls 4x400 title a year after losing to their rivals from Florida.

Brown led off with a 55.5 on the opening leg, trailing just Union Catholic NJ by a hair before handing off to Campbell. From there, the race was in Bullis' control.

Campbell increased the lead by one second while splitting 53.30, then Rothwell added another three seconds to the lead with a 53.70 split.

Sutton, the 400 champion, got the baton with 55 seconds to spare to get the national record. She split 52.95 and it was a seven-second win for Bullis.

“To run 3:35 indoor when that record of Long Beach Poly with 3:38.91 stood for so long, and then of course Montverde broke it last year,” Lee said. “We were all coming back this year and we’ll see what happens…We’re on pace to do some things that nobody thought we could do.”

Similar to the boys, this girls team is well ahead of where it was last year in mid-March.

Bullis ran 3:38.18 indoors and then shaved off six seconds last outdoor season to run 3:32.29.

Running 3:35.54 now, could Bullis become the first sub-3:30 high school girls team?

Again, that story continues.