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Paul VI boys' 4x400 ready for Penn Relays

As the anchor of the Paul VI 4x400-meter relay team, Stefone Moore-Green knows there won't be another runner waiting to receive the baton from him at the finish line.

Paul VI runners (from left) Maxwell Dickens, Rich Bush, Stefone Moore-Green, and Antonio Tarantino.
Paul VI runners (from left) Maxwell Dickens, Rich Bush, Stefone Moore-Green, and Antonio Tarantino.Read more

As the anchor of the Paul VI 4x400-meter relay team, Stefone Moore-Green knows there won't be another runner waiting to receive the baton from him at the finish line.

He still wants to pass it forward.

"One of the main things we're trying to do is establish something for the future," Moore-Green said. "Paul VI has never been known for this kind of team."

Moore-Green, a Bucknell football recruit, and Maxwell Dickens are the senior leaders of a Paul VI relay team that has taken the South Jersey track and field scene by storm.

The Eagles, who have the state's best mark in the 4x400 with a blazing time of 3 minutes, 16.53 seconds at the April 16 Woodbury Relays, are a team to watch at the 122nd annual Penn Relays this weekend at Franklin Field.

Paul VI will be the favorite at the annual South Jersey Large Schools 4x400 relay on Saturday afternoon, although rival Pennsauken is another squad to watch.

Moore-Green and Dickens both say the Eagles' plan to win that race and also to qualify for the Championship of America 4x400 relay later on Saturday.

The Championship of America field will feature the eight high school teams with the fastest times from the hundreds of squads that will compete in earlier races and almost certainly will include some traditionally dominant teams from Jamaica.

"That would be huge," Dickens said of making the Championship of America race. "Paul VI has been a predominantly distance-running school for years and years. We have a chance to show what we're capable of doing in this kind of race."

Paul VI's team of Dickens, Moore-Green, junior Rich Bush, and sophomore Antonio Tarantino is marked by its balance and trust as well as its speed, according to coach Jim Cox.

At the Woodbury Relays, Dickens led off with a time of 49.2 seconds. Bush ran a 49.8 split, and Tarantino ran a 49.0 split. Moore-Green brought the Eagles home with a time of 48.4.

"They rely on each other. They trust each other," Cox said. "They are fairly equal runners. Max is the heart and soul, and Stefone, the guys all believe in him on the anchor."

Moore-Green and Dickens were part of a 4x400 relay team that ran a 3:40 and finished far behind the top South Jersey squads at the Penn Relays two years ago.

Now, the Eagles are looking to go sub-3:15 and advance to that prestigious Championship of America race later in the day.

"It's taken a lot of hard work," said Dickens, a Rhode Island track recruit.

Moore-Green said he likes being the anchor because, "it's all on me at the end. I love that pressure."

Moore-Green knows his three teammates will be waiting for him on the infield at the end of Saturday's race.

But he also suspects that, in a sense, a whole program will be there as well.

"For me and Max, considering what things were like in the past, one of our main things we've focused on is making things better in the future," Moore-Green said.

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

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