Morris Hills boys 4x800 team will compete at the 2026 Penn Relays, with senior Nolan Ribeiro excitedly preparing. Gianna Benfatti, also competing, aims to improve her personal record while facing the pressure of the event.
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After the Morris Hills boys 4x800 team formally received its invitation to compete at Penn Relays, senior Nolan Ribeiro was so excited he barely slept that night. Instead, the distance runner was doing research.
Ribeiro pulled up videos of past races at the prestigious track and field carnival hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. He discovered the average total attendance over the three days – this year April 23, 24 and 25 – is about 100,000 people. He also noted the particularly aggressive starts.
That's what Gianna Benfatti will have to face, as the leadoff leg of Roxbury's 4x800. This will be her second time at Penn Relays, but she didn't run first last spring.
Benfatti has gotten advice from last year's Gaels leadoff runner, junior Leah Johnson, who will also be returning on Thursday. She also consulted her mom, Vanessa Lewis Benfatti, who still holds the Morris County record in the 400 meters. Though the elder Benfatti finished in 54.97 at the 1996 Meet of Champions while at Morris Catholic, and went on to play soccer on scholarship at the University of Michigan, she never competed at Penn Relays.
"I've got to be tough mentally and physically and remember my teammates are counting on me, so I run it as fast as I can," said Benfatti, who hopes to improve her 2:20 PR. "It's nerve-racking, but you've got to use it to your advantage. I imagine, when I'm running, the nerves leaving my body. It helps me run faster."
The girls 4x800 heats – including Roxbury, Randolph and Morristown – start the three days of competition at 9 a.m. Thursday, followed by hours of 4x100s and 4x400s. The boys 4x800 is the first event on Friday. Boys 4x400 heats will be on Saturday, alongside college, Masters, and international competition.
May 21, 2025; Boonton, NJ, USA; Morris County Track & Field Championships at Boonton High School. Seannah Parsons, of Randolph, competes in the triple jump.
The 2026 Penn Relays will take place on April 23, 24, and 25.
The Morris Hills boys 4x800 team, including senior Nolan Ribeiro, is competing at the Penn Relays.
Gianna Benfatti hopes to improve her personal record of 2:20 during the Penn Relays.
The average total attendance at the Penn Relays over three days is about 100,000 people.
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There were also 35 girls and 28 boys from New Jersey invited to compete in individual events, including local throwers, jumpers and distance runners.
NJSIAA Meet of Champions triple jump winner Seannah Parsons of Randolph will compete in the same event at Penn Relays. She's following in the footsteps of Mount Olive alumna Keturah Orji, who won the Penn Relays triple jump Championship of America in 2014. Orji also claimed multiple high school and NCAA national titles, and competed at the Olympics three times.
Montville senior Anthony Agnoli, who was second in the MOC shot put, has been invited in discus. Senior Kennan Byers, who was part of Randolph's school-record distance medley last spring, will be part of the mile on Friday afternoon.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Ribeiro, who ran the third leg on Morris Hills' 4x800 indoors. "If you think about the team and the bigger picture, the long line of history for your school, you get more inspiration than just thinking about your individual time. I look back on what I'm really doing it for."
Girls 4x800 heats:
Girls 4x100 heats:
Girls triple jump Championship of America, noon: Seannah Parsons, Randolph
Girls 4x400 heats:
Boys discus Championship of America, 9 a.m.: Anthony Agnoli, Montville
Boys 4x800 heats: Morris Hills, 9:20 a.m.
Boys 4x100 heats:
Boys mile Championship of America, 5:20 p.m.: Kennan Byers, Randolph
Boys 4x400 heats:
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris/Sussex athletes excited to compete at 2026 Penn Relays