PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, April 25-27—The men of Houston, Wisconsin and Georgetown and the women of South Carolina were the dominant players in the college competition at the Penn Relays, which also saw an unlikely win for the home team. The 125th edition of the nation’s preeminent relay meet presented some difficult weather challenges over three days, including a drenching downpour on Friday evening. (The meet was forced into a 90-minute delay at precisely the same time as a nationally televised broadcast was scheduled.)
Houston, continuing to solidify its reputation as a premiere national sprint power, swept the men’s 4×1, 4×2 and 4×4. In the 1-lapper a sloppy final exchange between Brandon Taylor and Travis Collins nearly derailed their hopes, but Collins still cruised home comfortably in 39.23, well ahead of Clemson (39.62). The 2-lapper lacked any real drama, with the Cougars finishing more than 2 seconds clear of Jamaica’s UTech, 1:22.04–1:24.14. And the 4×4 team came home nearly 4 seconds up on Maryland, 3:02.61–3:06.51. Houston star Mario Burke, who ran the second leg on the two short relays and the third on the 4×4, put an exclamation point on a 4-win weekend by taking the 100 in 10.20 over Auburn’s Anthony Schwartz (10.25). “Mario = Exhausted,” the Barbadian native joked on Twitter after the meet.
Wisconsin won a pair of nailbiters in the longer baton events, taking the distance medley in heavy rain (following that lengthy weather delay, the second of the day) and the 4 x Mile. The harsh conditions during the DMR turned the anchor into a tactical affair, with Oliver Hoare winning the sprint to the line to cap a 9:47.19 winner. Indiana’s Daniel Michalski edged Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse by 0.01 for second in 9:47.93. “When they put us back on the track after the second delay, the skies just opened up. I told our guys that some guys will freak out due to the heavy rain, but they laughed it off,” said Badgers coach Mick Byrne. “This is somewhat redemptive for NCAAs [where Wisconsin finished a disappointing 7th, well behind Notre Dame’s winners], but only in the sense that we turned the tide on the national champs.”
Morgan McDonald, who led off the Badger DMR, got his own chance to break the tape, winning a sprint over Indiana’s Ben Veatch to take the 4 x Mile by 0.04 in 16:39.82. “I thought that whoever made the last move was going to be able to win it, and so that’s kind of how I wanted to play out,” the NCAA XC champ said of his big move down the homestretch. “I wasn’t sure I had it until the line.”
Georgetown’s Joseph White delivered a pair of anchor-leg heroics for the Hoyas, a big 1:46.45 to cap the sprint medley (3:17.53) in that Friday evening monsoon, and a tactical 1:50.91 to finish up the 4×8 (7:25.18) on Saturday. Indiana was probably the meet’s unluckiest team, finishing a close 2nd in 4 events (4×8, 4xM, SMR and DMR), but the Hoosiers did get in the win column with Michalski’s collegiate-leading steeplechase (8:34.26) and the women’s 4×8 (8:33.47).
The Houston women got in on the action with their first-ever Franklin Field win, taking the 4×1 in 44.11, ahead of South Carolina at 44.52. The Gamecocks came back to dominate the shuttle hurdles (56.22), 4×2 (1:32.78) and 4×4 (3:32.33), the latter more than 3 seconds ahead of runner-up Penn (3:35.43).
That wasn’t even the high point of the meet for Penn, as the home team stole the DMR for the first baton win in meet history for an Ivy League women’s squad. NCAA Indoor 800 runner-up Nia Akins blew the race open with a gutsy 1200 leg (3:22.73) that made the field play a futile game of catch-up the rest of the way. “With a lap to go, I knew that I had enough energy left where I would be able to take over and hopefully hang on for as long as possible,” Akins said. “As the lap kept going, building momentum all the way around and having people cheering me on, it didn’t seem like too tall of a task.”
Uchechi Nwogwugwu (52.22), Melissa Tanaka (2:07.20) and Maddie Villalba (4:37.30) finished off the 10:59.44, enough to withstand a blistering 4:28.77 anchor leg from Jessica Harris, who brought Notre Dame (11:02.67) up from 9th to the runner-up spot.
Maryland’s British discus star Greg Thompson had the top field mark with a collegiate-leading throw of 215-1 (65.56).
PENN UNIVERSITY RESULTS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 25-27
Attendance 24,463, 38,003, 48,195 (110,661)
Weather: Thursday—high 66, low 55; Friday—high 70, low 54, periods of heavy rain with 2 lightning delays; Saturday—high 68, low 52
MEN
(4/25—St, 5K, 10K; 4/26—400H, 4×2, SM, DM, 4x110H, LJ, SP)
100(0.0): 1. Mario Burke’ (Hous) 10.20; 2. ***Anthony Schwartz (Aub) 10.25; 3. *Joseph Amoah’ (Copp) 10.31; 4. **Brandon Taylor (Hous) 10.36; 5. ***Rikkoi Brathwaite’ (In) 10.43.
St: 1. Daniel Michalski (In) 8:34.26 (CL);
2. *Leakey Kipkosgei’ (AmIntl) 8:44.13; 3. **Alex Miley (Duke) 8:50.89; 4. *Steve Neumaier (Corn) 8:53.15; 5. **James Abrahams (PennSt) 8:54.48.
5000: 1. Mohamed Hrezi’ (Lib) 14:02.54; 2. **Kristian Holm Jensen’ (Tem) 14:05.06; 3. **Andrew Kent (GaT) 14:06.63.
10,000: 1. *Aaron Bienenfeld (Cinc) 29:34.37; 2. Andrew Schille (Cinc) 29:41.85; 3. Henry Sterling (NED) 29:44.60.
110H(-0.4): 1. Isaiah Moore (SC) 13.79; 2. **LaFranz Campbell’ (Clem) 14.01; 3. Chad Zallow (Young) 14.03; 4. ***Justin Young (Army) 14.05.
400H: I–1. *Quincy Hall (SC) 50.23; 2. *Jaelen Williams (Hamp) 51.15. II–1. ***Miles Green (VaT) 51.52; 2. **Rivaldo Leacock (SC) 51.88; 3. ***Nathan Fergusson (StA) 52.03.
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Houston 39.23 (Alexander, Burke’, Taylor, Collins); 2. Clemson 39.62; 3. Virginia Tech 40.16; 4. Auburn 40.33; 5. Coppin State 40.42; 6. Monmouth 40.59.
4 x 200: 1. Houston 1:22.04 (Alexander, Burke’, Lattin, Igbokwe); 2. UTech (Jam) 1:24.14; 3. Clemson 1:24.26; 4. MICO (Jam) 1:24.60; 5. South Carolina 1:24.86.
4 x 400: 1. Houston 3:02.61 (out CL) (Lattin 46.4, Holt 45.8, Burke’ 45.63, Igbokwe 44.78);
2. Maryland 3:06.51; 3. St. Augustine’s 3:06.62; 4. G.C. Foster (Jam) 3:06.63; 5. Middle Tennessee State 3:07.98; 6. Navy 3:08.92.
4 x 800: 1. Georgetown 7:25.18 (Rowe 1:52.46, Delgado 1:52.25, Padhal’ 1:49.57, White 1:50.91); 2. Indiana 7:25.43 (Williams 1:50.72); 3. Penn State 7:25.55; 4. Columbia 7:26.93; 5. Georgia Tech 7:32.35; 6. Penn 7:34.35.
4 x Mile: 1. Wisconsin 16:39.82 (CL; out WL) (Hacker 4:11.6, Benning 4:11.6, Hoare’ 4:03.3, McDonald’ 4:13.3); 2. Indiana 16:39.86 (out AL);
3. Georgetown 16:40.63; 4. Virginia Tech 16:45.83; 5. Gonzaga 16:45.89; 6. Villanova 16:47.10.
SpMed: 1. Georgetown 3:17.53 (Alleyne, Barriffe, Leake 48.2, White 1:46.45); 2. Indiana 3:17.75 (Williams 1:46.46); 3. Penn State 3:20.93; 4. G.C. Foster 3:22.22; 5. South Carolina 3:22.96; 6. Clemson 3:26.73.
DisMed: 1. Wisconsin 9:47.19 (McDonald’ 2:58.22, Ellis 47.39, Brown 1:49.57, Hoare’ 4:12.02); 2. Indiana 9:47.93; 3. Notre Dame 9:47.94; 4. Miami-Ohio 9:48.82 (Torpy 4:01.02)’ 5. Georgetown 9:49.30; 6. Boston College 9:51.06.
4 x 110H: 1. Navy 56.96 (WL, AL, CL) (Thompson, Williams, Hurd, Wargo);
2. South Carolina 57.49; 3. UTech (Jam) 58.09; 4. St. Augustine’s 58.64.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Greg Lauray (Pitt) 7-1¾ (2.18); 2. Devin Bradham (PennSt) 7-½ (2.15); 3. Samuel Shoultz (Md) 6-11½ (2.12).
PV: 1. *Adam Coulon (In) 17-4½ (5.30); 2. Armand Woodley (SC) 17-¾ (5.20); 3. ***Payton Morris (Penn) 16-¾ (4.90).
LJ: 1. Yann Randrianasolo’ (SC) 25-1¼ (7.65); 2. Emanuel Archibald’ (Jam) 24-10 (7.57); 3. **Noah Igbinoghene (Aub) 24-¾w (7.33); 4. Kenny Glenn (MiaO) 23-9½ (7.25); 5. **Lagarious McQuirter (Hous) 23-8¼ (7.22); 6. **Malachi Davis (Rut) 23-7½ (7.20).
TJ: 1. ***Lloyd McCurdy’ (Jam) 52-2 (15.90); 2. Eric Bethea (In) 51-11¾w (15.84) (51-7/15.72); 3. Davis 50-10 (15.49); 4. Devon Willis (Alb) 50-4½ (15.35).
SP: 1. Corey Murphy (Monm) 61-5¾ (18.74); 2. Felipe Valencia’ (Hous) 60-9¼ (18.52); 3. **Ben Peterson (PennSt) 59-5¾ (18.13); 4. *Eric Favors (SC) 58-11¼ (17.96).
DT: 1. I–Greg Thompson’ (Md) 215-1 (65.56) (CL) (191-7, 215-1, f, 197-11, 211-9, f) (58.39, 65.56, f, 60.33, 64.55, f);
2. ***Roje Stona’ (Clem) 196-10 (60.01); 3. John Mooers (Rut) 185-2 (56.45); 4. **Sam Meece (Cinc) 184-2 (56.14); 5. **Chudi Ikpeazu (Penn) 183-2 (55.82). II–1. *Michael Renard (Army) 184-8 (56.29).
HT: 1. Morgan Shigo (PennSt) 234-5 (71.45); 2. Adam Kelly (Prin) 213-10 (65.18); 3. *Alexios Prodanas’ (UMBC) 209-5 (63.84); 4. **Luke Grodeska (PennSt) 206-8 (62.99); 5. Emmanouil Kamtsiklis’ (UMBC) 200-9 (61.19).
JT: 1. **Cade Antonucci (Aub) 237-5 (72.37); 2. ***Marc Minichello (Penn) 224-11 (68.57); 3. Chris Mirabelli (Rut) 221-0 (67.37); 4. *Michael Biddle (PennSt) 220-10 (67.32); 5. John Putnam (Aub) 213-8 (65.13); 6. **Najair Jackson’ (StA) 212-3 (64.71).
Dec(4/23-24): 1. Christopher Gabor (MSM) 6792.
WOMEN
(4/25—3K, St, 5K, 10K, 400H, DM, PV, LJ, SP, HT, JT; 4/26—4×1, 4×2, 4×15, 4x100H, SM, TJ, DT)
100(-0.5): 1. *Jaliyah Elliott (Youngs) 11.60; 2. Bethany White (NCC) 11.71; 3. Kasheika Cameron’ (Jam) 11.73; 4. ***Cecila Tamayo-Garza (Hous) 11.74; 5. ***Ashley Seymour (Hous) 11.75; 6. **Sarah Hill (Clem) 11.83.
3000: 1. Margaret Allen (In) 9:18.33; 2. *Hannah Reinhardt (Alb) 9:22.73; 3. **Alexandra Hays (Col) 9:25.63; 4. Cara Sherman (Alb) 9:29.13; 5. Erin Gregoire (Col) 9:30.04.
St: 1. Bri Ilarda’ (Prov) 9:55.43; 2. Nell Crosby (NCSt) 10:04.39; 3. *Grace Mancini (LaS) 10:07.47; 4. **Kayley DeLay (Yale) 10:12.74; 5. Briar Brumley (Corn) 10:22.04.
5000: 1. **Lisa Tertsch (Harv) 16:03.15; 2. *Abbey Wheeler (Prov) 16:07.01; 3. **Hana Herndon (GaT) 16:12.03; 4. Kristina Popadich’ (Can) 16:21.21; 5. **Lauren Ryan’ (Vill) 16:28.68.
10,000: 1. ***Jackie Gaughan (NDm) 33:13.39; 2. *Annie Heffernan (NDm) 34:23.08; 3. **Gillian Meeks (Harv) 34:59.33; 4. Haley Hasty (Ct) 35:26.26.
100H(2.6): 1. **Naomi Taylor (Hous) 13.26w; 2. Sara Gardner (Rid) 13.46w; 3. ***Eddita Pessima’ (Pitt) 13.49w; 4. **Erin Marsh (Duke) 13.53w; 5. Courtney Warden (SB) 13.63w; 6. *Aysha Muhammad (Pitt) 13.64w.
400H: 1. *Shannon Kalawan’ (StA) 57.37; 2. ***Reanda Richards’ (Rut) 57.58; 3. **Xahria Santiago’ (Md) 58.41.
5000W: 1. Taylor Ewert (Beavercreek, Oh) 22:28.61 AJR, HSR (old records 22:38.16 Ewert ’18).
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Houston 44.11 (Taylor, Sample, Tamayo-Garza, Seymour); 2. South Carolina 44.52; 3. Penn State 44.59; 4. Clemson 44.84; 5. G.C. Foster (Jam) 45.31; 6. Hampton 45.37.
4 x 200: 1. South Carolina 1:32.78 (Davis, Pennamon, Jonathas, Abrams’); 2. UTech (Jam) 1:33.86; 3. Houston 1:34.36.
4 x 400: I–1. South Carolina 3:32.33 (Davis 53.2, Abrams’ 51.3, Mills 55.68, Jonathas 52.14); 2. Penn 3:35.43; 3. Clemson 3:36.47; 4. Duke 3:37.75; 5. Miami 3:38.29. II–1. St. Augustine’s 3:36.42; 2. Wisconsin 3:37.85; 3. Howard 3:38.53; 4. Pittsburgh 3:38.62.
4 x 800: 1. Indiana 8:33.47 (Pinkston 2:09.86, Harris 2:09.48, Mulzer 2:08.97, Harris 2:05.18); 2. Virginia Tech 8:34.38 (Pocratsky 2:04.40); 3. Monmouth 8:37.35 (Wilson 2:02.29); 4. Vanderbilt 8:37.45; 5. Penn 8:38.65 (Akins 2:02.33); 6. Rutgers 8:46.80.
4 x 1500: 1. Villanova 17:39.26 (WL, CL) (Olivere 4:28.6, McArthur 4:18.4, Alcorta 4:28.0, Hutchinson’ 4:24.3);
2. Indiana 17:50.70 (AL);
3. Vanderbilt 17:54.86; 4. Wisconsin 17:58.39.
SpMed: 1. Penn State 3:45.25 (Williams, Lester, Holmes 53.0, Rivers 2:04.71); 2. George Mason 3:46.08 (Lewis 2:04.37); 3. Clemson 3:48.40; 4. Rutgers 3:48.63; 5. Middle Tennessee State 3:51.42; 6. Vanderbilt 3:56.48.
DisMed: 1. Penn 10:59.44 (out WL, AL, CL) (Akins 3:22.73, Nwogwugwu 52.22, Tanaka 2:07.20, Villalba 4:37.30);
2. Notre Dame 11:02.67 (Harris 4:28.77); 3. Villanova 11:05.67; 4. Georgetown 11:06.77; 5. Indiana 11:08.45; 6. Virginia Tech 11:11.00; 7. Wisconsin 11:11.39; 8. Columbia 11:13.70; 9. Richmond 11:18.43.
4 x 100H: I–1. South Carolina 56.22 (Parks, Fields, Little, Coquillaud-Salomon); 2. Troy 56.82; 3. Hampton 57.21. II–1. Duke 56.66; 2. Navy 59.41; 3. Cornell 59.71.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Anna Peyton Malizia (Penn) 5-11½ (1.82); 2. ***Sanaa Barnes (Vill) 5-11½; 3. *Grace Becker (WM) 5-8½ (1.74); 4. tie, *Rhonda Rogombe (Rut) & **Aisha Brown (Tem) 5-8½.
PV: 1. ***Hayley Horvath (Tows) 13-1½ (4.00).
LJ: 1. *Samiyah Samuels (Hous) 20-1½ (6.13); 2. *Jaelan Leonard (Hamp) 20-½ (6.11); 3. **Taylor Woods (Ct) 19-6¾ (5.96); 4. *Taylor Middleton (Pitt) 19-5¼ (5.92).
TJ: 1. *Leah Moran (In) 42-1¼ (12.83); 2. ***Myesha Nott’ (WnKy) 40-8¾ (12.41); 3. **Bhrandi Crenshaw (NCC) 40-2 (12.24).
SP: I–1. ***Madison Pollard (In) 53-10¼ (16.41); 2. **Janell Fullerton (Clem) 53-4¼ (16.26); 3. *Khayla Dawson (In) 53-3 (16.23); 4. Annette Echikunwoke (Cinc) 52-11 (16.13); 5. Sunflower Greene (Millers) 52-6¾ (16.02); 6. **Tori McKinley (Aub) 52-4¾ (15.97). II–1. ***Carisma Holland (SC) 53-7 (16.33).
DT: 1. *Shanice Love’ (FlSt) 191-1 (58.25); 2. **Ashley Anumba (Penn) 183-10 (56.05); 3. Venique Harris’ (Alb) 178-5 (54.39); 4. ***Veronica Fraley (Clem) 171-11 (52.41); 5. Phontavia Sawyer (Tow) 166-10 (50.85); 6. **Tori McKinley (Aub) 163-1 (49.72).
HT: 1. *Veronika Kanuchova’ (FlSt) 215-3 (65.62); 2. ***Madi Malone (Aub) 212-2 (64.66); 3. Echikunwoke 209-1 (63.72);
4. *Chanell Botsis’ (Ct) 199-9 (60.88); 5. **Alice Barnsdale’ (Md) 198-8 (60.56); 6. Rachel Wilson (Penn) 198-6 (60.51).
JT: 1. *Kylee Carter (Aub) 184-9 (56.31); 2. **Laura Paredes’ (FlSt) 178-2 (54.30); 3. Peyton Montgomery (Aub) 170-7 (51.99); 4. **Kelechi Nwanaga’ (UMBC) 169-5 (51.64); 5. Stephanie Sievers (PennSt) 157-5 (47.99); 6. **Madison Smith (PennSt) 154-5 (47.07).
Hept(4/23-24): 1. Rene Rosso (MSM) 4548; 2. Taylor Wiederrecht (Mess) 4388; 3. Kelly Ward (Ct) 4344. ◻︎
