On April 23-25, Conestoga participated in the Penn Relay Carnival. The University of Pennsylvania has annually hosted the Penn Relays since 1895 at the Franklin Field. Over 1,000 high schools from 30 different states in the U.S. and nine international regions, such as Jamaica, participated in the race. Additionally, approximately 190 collegiate teams from the NCAA divisions took part in the relays as well. Combined, there were more than 20,000 competitors and 100,000 spectators.
Conestoga made many notable performances on the competitive field. The girls’ 4×100 team, made up of freshmen Alexandra D’Andrea, Tenley Wilbers, Luiza Marques and Evie Jordan, had a combined time of 55.60. In addition, the boys’ 4×100 team, consisting of sophomores James Adams and Justin Smith, freshman Will Camara, and sophomore Owen Wenner had a combined time of 44.13. The girls’ 4×800 team of sophomore Reagan Herrell, seniors Jenna Khalil and Laila Dogum, and junior Sarah Crill had a combined time of 9:45.58. Furthermore, the Conestoga girls’ 4×400 team consisted of senior Maddie Fox, freshmen Grace Lu and Christabel Harris and senior Nicol Bovanova. The girls had a combined time of 4:08.58, earning them seventh place in the Suburban Central Heats, a subsection of the relays.
“It (Penn Relays) was honestly structured similar to a regular track meet. But since it was so huge, I know that instead of being categorized by events, there were also categories within the events. So we really only went against schools in our area,” Harris said.
The Conestoga boys’ 4×800 team also turned in a strong performance. The boys’ 4×800 team is made up of seniors Parker Warkentine and Howard Shui, sophomore Caz Przybylowski and senior Jake Foster. They had a combined time of 7:57.32 in the heats, earning them 28th place overall. The student-athletes noted the crowds of spectators and fellow athletes that packed the track and stadium.
“Seeing everyone in the crowd was so cool. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an event that big, because I was running against 20 other guys,” Przybylowski said.
In addition to the individual race achievements, the Conestoga track team qualified for the district championships through its overall performance at the Penn Relay Carnival. The 2026 PIAA District 1 Championships took place from May 15-16, where Bovanova and senior Alexia Tubbs further qualified for the PIAA State Championship. At the state championship, Bovanova placed ninth and Tubbs placed eighth.
“We didn’t have a lot of other opportunities to qualify,” Herrell said. “So, we really wanted to hit the time, just that one day, so we wouldn’t be trapped into doing it over and over again. After we were able to do that, we got to see our time on the scoreboard. Everyone was so excited.”
Priyanka Paxula can be reached at [email protected].
