PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, April 28–30 — The women’s 4 x 1500 delivered on two levels at the 126th Penn Relays: a thrilling head-to-head match-up and a record-breaking performance. Arkansas edged NC State to win the title, taking down the collegiate best in the process as the highlight of the women’s events at Franklin Field.
The two schools traded spots at the lead through the first three legs, with Arkansas’s Isabel Van Camp (4:16.8), Logan Jolly (4:13.9) and Lauren Gregory (4:12.5) ultimately establishing a 10m lead over NC State’s Anna Vess (4:17.4), Samantha Bush (4:10.9) and Savannah Shaw (4:17.1) at the final exchange.
After two laps, anchor Katelyn Tuohy had brought the Wolfpack even with the Razorbacks’ Krissy Gear, and the duo sprinted madly over the final circuit. Gear (4:10.7) had a final kick that was enough to hold off Tuohy (4:09.8) and stop the clock in 16:53.87. That crushed the 17:08.34 set by a Tennessee team at the ’09 Penn Relays and puts Arkansas at No. 2 on the U.S. all-time list. NC State (16:55.19) was also well under the CR and slotted in at No. 3 on the U.S. list.
“I knew the girl from NC State has a really good kick and she’s a super strong runner, and I didn’t want to take away from what my teammates had done,” said Gear, who was part of Arkansas’ NCAA Indoor-winning DMR in March.
In fact, it was Tuohy’s own words that may have inspired Gear’s effort at Franklin Field. “She gave a really good interview a couple of weeks ago,” said the Razorback, “and one of the things she talked about was that you have to go into a race thinking you can win it, otherwise you’ve already lost. I had that thought in mind when she went by.”
Olympic gold medalists Athing Mu and Sydney McLaughlin produced the top individual performances. Mu followed an aggressive pace by Ajee’ Wilson in the 600 before powering home in 1:22.74. That wasn’t far off Wilson’s ’17 AR of 1:22.39 and moved the Olympic 800 champ to No. 4 on the all-time world list.
“You never know how the race is going to go out,” said the Trenton native, making her Penn debut after previously attending as a spectator. “Just having it my mind that I was going to stick with whoever went out… and not fight for it because I knew it was going to be competitive throughout the whole race. I didn’t want to make my move early. Running a 6, you definitely have to leave something in your tank to come home that last 2.”
Jamaica’s Natoya Goule moved up well to take 2nd in 1:24.09, moving to No. 9 all-time. Wilson (1:25.87) faded badly and finished 6th.
Tokyo 400H champ McLaughlin ran her first race since the Olympic 4×4 final — a span of 266 days — but looked smooth in winning the 100H in 12.75, just 0.10 off her PR. “Today was just an open-the-season kinda race to see where we’re at,” said McLaughlin, who last raced at Penn as a prep in ’17. “This isn’t my primary race, but I definitely wanted to come out here and put up a good time.”
South Carolina swept the college sprint relays, taking the meet’s trademark massive wheel trophies in the 4×1 (43.72), 4×2 (1:33.36) and 4×4 (3:26.53). Makenzie Dunmore, a transfer from Oregon who didn’t compete in ’20 or ’21, ran on all three squads.
After Lauren Ellsworth blew the DMR open with a 3:18.22 opening leg, BYU easily won its first Penn title, clocking 10:50.22 to become the fourth-fastest school all-time. “Worth the trip! Worth the trip!” Cougars coach Diljeet Taylor could be heard enthusiastically repeating afterwards. “We wanted that wheel.”
Ohio State had a frustrating weekend: close losses to Penn State in the 4×8 and sprint medley and a DQ in the 4×1 — but brought home several titles on the individual side. Anavia Battle won the college 100 (11.19) and doubled back to take the invitational 300 (36.70) less than an hour later. Fellow Olympian Adelaide Aquilla won the shot put at 60-3¼ (18.37) and Jaimie Robinson took the triple jump with a 44-1¼ (13.44) effort.
PENN RELAYS WOMEN’S RESULTS
Invitational Women
300: 1. Anavia Battle (OhSt) 36.70 PR (out WL, AL, CL);
2. Nicole Yeargin’ (GB) 37.15 PR; 3. Chloe Abbott (On) 39.10 PR.
600: 1. Athing Mu (Nik) 1:22.74 PR (WL, AL) (4, 4 W; 2, 2 A);
2. Natoya Goule’ (Jam) 1:24.09 NR; 3. Nia Akins (BrkB) 1:25.14 PR; 4. Sophia Gorriaran (RIHS) 1:25.22 PR (HSL) (2, 2 AJ, HS); 5. Olivia Baker (adiAtlTC) 1:25.28 PR; 6. Ajee’ Wilson (adi) 1:25.87; 7. Sadi Henderson (adiAtlTC) 1:26.70 PR.
800: 1. Sage Hurta (OnAC) 1:59.76 PR; 2. Juliette Whittaker (PaHS) 2:01.55 (out HSL); 3. Dani Aragon (EmpE) 2:03.95;
4. Laurie Barton (BrkB) 2:03.97; 5. Maddy Berkson (unat) 2:04.03; 6. Brenna Detra (BAA) 2:04.90.
1500: 1. Anna Camp-Bennett (adi) 4:09.54; 2. Whittni Morgan (adi) 4:09.64; 3. Georgie Hartigan’ (Ire) 4:09.87 PR; 4. Charlene Lipsey (adi) 4:10.35; 5. Danae Rivers (UArmDist) 4:11.55; 6. Maddy Berkson (unat) 4:11.61 PR.
St: 1. Carmen Graves (GSTC) 9:46.68; 2. Alicja Konieczek’ (Pol) 9:46.74; 3. Corinne Fitzgerald (CPTC) 10:12.85 PR;
4. Rolanda Bell’ (Pan) 10:26.77; 5. Briar Brumley (CPTCTracksm) 10:34.99.
100H(0.0): 1. Sydney McLaughlin (NBal) 12.75; 2. Mariam Abdul-Rashid’ (Can) 13.17; 3. Evonne Britton (adi) 13.23; 4. Amoi Brown’ (Jam) 13.26.
University Women Track
100(0.2): 1. Anavia Battle (OhSt) 11.19; 2. *Cecilia Tamayo-Garza’ (Hous-Mex) 11.42; 3. **Nya Bussey (OhSt) 11.44.
1500: 1. *Sarah Hendrick (Kenn) 4:16.68.
St: 1. **Lexy Halladay (BYU) 9:59.27; 2. **Carmen Riano’ (MiaO-Spa) 10:04.84.
5000: 1. *Sydney Seymour (Tn) 15:36.00 PR; 2. Nicole Fegans (GaT) 15:41.98; 3. Dominique Clairmonte (NCSt) 15:42.00 PR.
10,000: 1. **Grace Forbes (Rice) 32:59.15; 2. ***Laura Mooney’ (Prov-Ire) 33:23.95 PR.
100H(0.3): 1. Naomi Taylor (Hous) 13.01 PR; 2. *Shaneylix Davila (SFl) 13.29.
400H: I–1. *Jessica Wright (How) 57.33; 2. **Rachel Glenn (SC) 57.52; 3. Yasmin Brooks (PennSt) 58.31 PR. II–1. Asia Jinks (Aub) 57.77 PR; 2. *Sanique Walker (SFl) 58.24.
University Women Relays
4 x 100: 1. South Carolina 43.72 (Jamison, Dunmore, Frank, Frasier); 2. Clemson 44.27; 3. South Florida 44.66; 4. Albany 45.29;… dq—Ohio State;… dnf—Howard.
4 x 200: I–1. UMBC 1:36.42; 2. Maryland 1:36.96. II–1. South Carolina 1:33.36 (Jamison, Dunmore, Davis, Frasier); 2. Coppin State 1:36.57; 3. Ohio State 1:36.76; 4. Pitt 1:37.76.
4 x 400: 1. South Carolina 3:26.53 (Davis 52.0, Dunmore 50.5, Frank 52.24, Registre 51.73); 2. Ohio State 3:28.07 (Wood 52.8, Dayle 53.0, Marsh 50.53, Murphy 51.69); 3. Howard 3:30.45; 4. Auburn 3:35.26; 5. Coppin State 3:35.70; 6. Clemson 3:36.90.
4 x 800: 1. Penn State 8:24.49 (Vanriele 2:08.37, Gearing 2:04.26, Ullom 2:06.92, Tachinski’ 2:04.94); 2. Ohio State 8:25.04 (Mulzer 2:09.08, Figler 2:03.32, Napolean 2:08.63, Ayoub 2:04.01); 3. BYU 8:28.24 (Seymour 2:03.22); 4. Villanova 8:30.63 (Keegan 2:04.07); 5. Virginia 8:31.00; 6. Richmond 8:34.14; 7. Providence 8:34.22; 8. Georgetown 8:39.36.
4 x 1500: 1. Arkansas 16:53.87 CR (old CR 17:08.34 Tennessee ’09) (WL, AL) (3 W, 2 A) (Isabel Van Camp 4:16.8, Logan Jolly 4:13.9, Lauren Gregory 4:12.5, Krissy Gear 4:10.7);
2. NC State 16:55.19 (4 W; 3 A; 2 C; #2 school) (Anna Vess 4:17.4, Samantha Bush 4:10.9, Savannah Shaw 4:17.1, Katelyn Tuohy 4:09.8);
3. Mississippi 17:24.46; 4. Indiana 17:25.00; 5. BYU 17:29.45; 6. Georgetown 17:32.97; 7. Wisconsin 17:34.43; 8. Tennessee 17:39.48.
(best-ever mark-for-place: 2, 5-8)
SpMed: I–1. Middle Tennessee State 3:54.27; 2. Howard 3:55.90; 3. South Carolina 3:56.69.
II–1. Penn State 3:48.47 (Madson, Brooks, Gearing, Tachinski’ 2:06.21); 2. Ohio State 3:48.79 (Ayoub 2:06.46); 3. Temple 3:52.53; 4. Troy 3:54.43; 5. Penn 3:58.22.
DisMed: 1. BYU 10:50.22 (CL) (8 A; 5 C; #4 school (L. Ellsworth 3:18.22, A. Ellsworth 53.63, Seymour 2:05.98, Wayment 4:32.39);
2. Mississippi 10:55.61 (Vissa 4:31.65); 3. Indiana 10:59.54 (Hertenstein 4:34.96); 4. Virginia 11:04.40; 5. North Carolina 11:05.29; 6. Providence 11:10.03; 7. Georgetown 11:12.12; 8. Binghamton 11:12.15; 9. Villanova 11:12.43; 10. Wisconsin 11:14.12; 11. Boston College 11:15.81.
University Women Field
HJ: 1. **Rachel Glenn (SC) 6-½ (1.84); 2. Abigail Kwarteng’ (MTn) 6-½; 3. *Sanaa Barnes (Vill) 5-11¼ (1.81).
PV: 1. ***Chloe Timberg (Rut) 13-6½ (4.13); 2. **Abigail Kuhn (OhSt) 13-6½.
LJ: 1. Anna Keefer (NC) 20-10½ (6.36); 2. *Breanna Gambrell (PennSt) 20-7 (6.27).
TJ: I–1. *Jaimie Robinson (OhSt) 44-1¼ (13.44) PR; 2. Harleigh White (Clem) 42-4¼ (12.91); 3. *Tannekee Strachan’ (Tem-Jam) 42-2¾ (12.87). II–1. ***Leann Nicholas (Alb) 42-2¾.
SP: 1. Adelaide Aquilla (OhSt) 60-3¼ (18.37); 2. Latavia Maines (Tn) 57-5½ (17.51); 3. *Madison Pollard (In) 57-3 (17.45); 4. ***Jayden Ulrich (In) 57-2 (17.42) PR; 5. ***Maria Deaviz’ (Va-Bra) 54-3¾ (16.55); 6. **Mallory Kauffman (PennSt) 53-10½ (16.42); 7. **Maura Huwalt (Aub) 53-8½ (16.37) PR.
DT: 1. *Ashley Anumba (Va) 188-9 (57.53) PR; 2. Aquilla 183-1 (55.81); 3. Obi Amaechi (NC) 177-2 (54.00).
HT: 1. Jillian Shippee (NC) 228-10 (69.76) PR; 2. *Madi Malone (Aub) 228-6 (69.66) PR; 3. *Mayyi Mahama (Penn) 208-10 (63.65); 4. ***Marie Forbes (Clem) 202-11 (61.84).
JT: 1. *Madison Wiltrout (NC) 180-4 (54.96); 2. Ashley Carter (Aub) 173-5 (52.86); 3. Keira McCarrell’ (Aub-Can) 167-7 (51.08); 4. Madison Smith (PennSt) 165-3 (50.38). ◻︎