By Cameron Slavin ‘23

On Friday, April 21, Brother Rice hosted the 16th Annual Rice Relays. This was senior night for the Crusaders and 12 teams were there in total.

The seniors that were recognized on Friday were Jonah Bossette, Rory Cusack, Brendan Malloy, Joe Bowes, Marcus Kennedy, Jack Morrison, Joe Heilmann, Jake Maheras, Charlie Walsh, and James Worthington.

The 12 teams in attendance were Brother Rice, Marmion Academy, St. Laurence, Providence, Fenwick, St. Viator, Leo, Marist, Reavis, Evergreen Park, Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, and Solorio Academy.

The 4×2 and 4×4 freshman and sophomore level teams came in first place. The 4×2 team had Dan Speski, Donovan Brown, Lloyd Johnson and Kris Love. The 4×4 team had Dan Speski, Donovan Brown, Emeir White and Keanu Juhasz.

Sophomore Donovan Brown said, “It was something special about being able to represent your school in front of your home crowd. It was even more special when we came out on top.”

Sophomore Gavin O’Connor set a personal record in the 1600 meter and finished third place.

Junior Dylan McDonnnell had a good night as well; he placed first in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles and placed fourth in the 110 meter high hurdles.

Senior Rory Cusack had a great performance in the 400 meter dash; he finished in third place.

The 4×1, 4×2, and 4×4 junior and senior level teams placed second in 4×1, third in 4×2, and second in 4×4. These efforts helped the Crusaders win the meet.

The Crusaders came back to win the 16th annual Rice Relays after being down 12 points with two events left. The Crusaders were able to take away St Laurence’s first place lead and finish with a total of 114 points, St Laurence finished with 108 points.

Senior Brendan Malloy said, “I’m ecstatic that my last home meet ever, Rice Relays, ended in a victory for us. This was the first big invite that we took first in all year. It was also my senior night, so it is definitely a night I won’t forget. Indoor season was full of ups and downs. I had some good races but right before the indoor championship, I ended up straining my hip flexor, causing me to miss the championship meet and the first few weeks of the outdoor season. I was able to come back and run a season best as the 3rd leg of the 4×800 meter relay on Friday night, so I have positive hopes for the rest of the season.”