By Joseph Staszewski
Benjamin Cardozo added a piece of history to its storied girls’ track program.
The team of Denise Branch, Deajah Stevens and Shaniqua Kirkpatrick won the prestigious Championship of America distance medley relay at the Penn Relays April 25. It is the first time Cardozo or any one team from Queens has won at Penn and the first PSAL school to do so since 2002, when Boys & Girls won the crown.
“It was special,” Judges Coach Gail Emmanuel said. “It was long overdue as far as we are concerned. We had the talent previously. We just weren’t able to, though.”
Cardozo won the race with a time of 11:45.69, more than 10 seconds better than second-place Germantown Friends of Philadelphia. Emmanuel said the key to the race was lead leg Denise Branch, who ran the 1,200-meter leg in 3:36.9 and kept her team in the close third. The Judges believed if she did that they would have a good chance to win.
“She kept it close as planned and didn’t panic,” Emmanuel said. “She was able to keep it close enough for everything to play out the way it played out.”
Deajah Stevens, who is headed to South Carolina, took it from there. She put Cardozo in the lead for good with a 53.2 400-meter led. Shaniqua Kirkpatrick ran her 800 meters in 2:21.8 and handed Georgetown-bound senior Sabrina Southerland a comfortable lead. Southerland ran the 1,600 leg in 4:53.8 to secure the win.
“I just have to bring it home now,” she recalled thinking when she was handed the baton. “It was just like to stay and keep it up and not let anyone pass me.”
For Southland it was her first and final Penn Relays as a high school athlete. She has been part of plenty of strong teams that have come close to winning. Finally getting a victory was a great way to go out and leave a big mark on the program’s rich history.
“Since I was a freshman I have been waiting for this,” Southerland said. “Being the first team period is such a great honor.”
