GAINESVILLE, FL —Four of Westwood High School’s sprinters made a name for themselves in Florida over the weekend in the Pepsi Florida Relays at the University of Florida. The Redhawks left with a meet record and a faster grip on the national leaderboards.
The Westwood squad improved its own U.S. No. 1 time in the 4×200-meter relay, blistering the track in 1:22.95. The performance not only surpassed their season-best of 1:23.30 set at the Redhawk Invitational, it also set a new Pepsi Florida Relays meet record.
The relay team, made up of juniors Jayden Wilson, Jamey Patterson, and Myles Bryant, along with senior anchor Jayden Boyd, took down a field that included national powerhouse Bullis School (Maryland) and Florida’s Flanagan High School.
Running in Heat 1 of three timed finals, Wilson kept the Redhawks in contention on the lead-off leg as Bullis School jumped out to a slight early lead. By the time Patterson handed off to Bryant for the third leg, Westwood, Bullis, and Flanagan were deadlocked with 400 meters remaining.
Running in lane 4, Bryant reeled in Bullis on the outside and surged past Flanagan to secure the inside track heading into the final exchange.
Bryant executed a perfect transition to Boyd, who took the baton on the final curve and pulled away from the field on the homestretch, crossing the line nearly a second and a half ahead of runner-up Flanagan (1:24.32).
The Redhawks’ 1:22.95 currently stands as the fastest time in the United States this season and serves as both a South Carolina state record and a national record.
The Westwood squad also made its mark in the 4×100-meter relay. After qualifying for the finals with a prelim time of 41.14, the foursome of Boyd, Bryant, Patterson, and Wilson clocked a 40.78 in the finals to finish second, narrowly missing the top spot.
The foursome’s season-best of 40.39 in the 4x100m remains the No. 1 time in South Carolina and ranks No. 5 in the nation.