The Scoop: National-Caliber Performances At Penn Relays

It was ever so crucial for athletes in Texas to make sure they were hitting their top form this weekend at state qualifying championships. 

And, oh, did we see some fast relays. 

1. Chief among them was the boys 4x200, where we saw five out of the top six marks in the nation go down in four different meets. Katy Seven Lakes (TX) threw it down for a US No. 1 time of 1:24.18, while Mansfield Legacy (1:24.40) and Lancaster (1:24.73) battled for US no. 2 and US No. 5, respectively. DeSoto clocked the nation's third fastest time in 1:24.46, while Fort Bend Marshall was sixth overall in 1:24.78. 

2. We can't forget about the boys 4x400, though, since Alief Taylor and Houston Strake Jesuit became the second and third teams in the country to record times at 3:11. Alief Taylor produced a US No. 2 mark of 3:11.52, while Strake Jesuit was US No. 3 in 3:11.91. 

3. On the girls end, Mansfield Lake Ridge went US No. 3 in the 4x200 in 1:35.80, while Cypress Springs' girls posted a US No. 3 in the 4x400 in 3:41.27. DeSoto's girls were fourth nationally in 3:41.37. 

4. Kesean Carter. The Woodlands (TX) High senior went an all conditions 10.28 seconds in the 100m to win his Region 6A-2 meet, though he hit a wind-legal time of 10.42 (+1.6). Pearland Dawson (TX) High's Jacolby Shelton, meanwhile, grabbed Texas' top wind-legal 100m time in 10.41 (+1.9). 

5. Humble (TX) High's Jordan Booker went sub-21 in the 200m. The senior produced the fastest state time at the Region 5A-3 championships in 20.78 (+1.9) seconds, a wind-legal mark. That was his second straight sub-21 performance in ensuing weeks. 

6. Houston Strake Jesuit's Matthew Boling, meanwhile, also posted a stellar time in the 400m, going US No. 3 at the quarter lap in 46.15 seconds, a career best. 

7. Kynnedy Flannel finally got the wind-legal mark she wanted in 2018, going a US No. 4 mark of 23.48 (+1.7) seconds at the Region 6A-3 Championships, her second straight effort under 24 seconds on the season. Cypress Ranch's Kailei Collins, meanwhile, was sixth nationally with her 23.64 (+1.7) effort. 

8. Slowly but surely, Frisco Heritage's Bailey Lear is making her way up the national leaderboard. She posted a US No. 6 mark of 53.35 seconds in the 400m at the Region 5A-2 Championships, her fourth time under 54 seconds this season.