Much of the premeet focus was on who was not going to be at the Penn Relays this year, but in the end the college teams that showed up (some sending just a portion of their squads) produced a host of impressive marks.
Houston’s Cougars and Villanova’s Wildcats were the dominant schools over the three days of the 124th version of the meet, which drew 108,755 fans.
Houston lived up to its self-proclaimed nickname of “Speed City” by taking the men’s 4×1 and 4×4. In the shorter race, running without NCAA Indoor 60/200 champ Elijah Hall (who was on a pre-planned break to rest, ahead of Conference and NCAA competition), Nicholas Alexander stormed the third leg to give Burrell an insurmountable lead and a comfortable 38.95 win.
Burrell was back on the track 4½ hours later to run the third leg of the 4×4, handing a slight lead to Kahmari Montgomery. The junior transfer from Missouri proceeded to blast a 43.38, the fastest in meet history, to score a 3:01.82 victory.
Auburn unleashed a pair of sub-44 performers, Akeem Bloomfield crushing the second leg with a hand-timed 43.4. Nathon Allen had the unusual experience of splitting 43.77 but actually losing ground and the Tigers (3:03.52) had to settle for 2nd.
The Villanova women won the distance triple for the second straight year, taking the DMR (11:01.94), 4×15 (17:35.48) and 4×8 (8:19.98, the fastest collegiate time in 5 years) on successive days.
Canadian junior Nicole Hutchinson took all the drama out of the DMR with an opening 1200 leg of 3:21.86 that built a lead of nearly 5 seconds, then used a 4:17.0 anchor in the 4×15 to hold off a tenacious upset effort from Indiana (17:41.32).
Síofra Cléirigh-Büttner anchored the DMR win with a 4:36.09 carry for 1600, and ran a solo 2:02.63 to cap the 4×8, with the Hoosiers (8:25.79) once again 2nd.
“My hat’s off to Indiana,” said Wildcat coach Gina Procaccio, herself a decorated Penn Relays performer. “They came at us yesterday in the 4 x 1500 and they were right back at it today in the 4 x 800. They really pushed us to show what we’re made of.”
Nova considers Penn to be a home meet (the campus is less than 20M away from Franklin Field), but the men’s team was frustrated to leave without a title the past two years. That dry spell ended with wins in the DMR (9:34.37) and 4 x Mile (16:23.75), both secured by strong kicks from Casey Comber.
In the 4xM, Comber bolted to the front a full lap out, and held off Georgetown’s Amos Bartelsmeyer, whose stride broke down in the final 30m.
“If I said I felt fresh that would probably be a lie,” Comber said after the race, less than 24 hours after his DMR heroics (in his Penn debut). “That last lap was about fighting and fighting and fighting as hard as I could to bring it home.”
Prior to Montgomery’s epic split in the 4×4, it looked like the carry of the meet belonged to Isaiah Harris in the sprint medley. The Penn State junior, a member of Team USA at the World Championships last summer, clocked 1:44.74 on his 800 assignment to score a come-from-behind 3:15.25 win, passing Clemson (3:15.52) and Mississippi State (3:15.70) in a tight battle.
“I am so happy for this relay, because last year in the same event we won our heat, but a team from the second heat ended up beating our time,” Harris said. “That hurt and we know we wanted that wheel. We have been waiting for this meet and to get the wheel,” referring to Penn’s signature championship trophies. He later showed off his raw speed with a 46.02 anchor on Penn State’s 5th-place 4×4 unit.
Mississippi State didn’t leave empty-handed, taking the 4×8 in 7:14.16 (just outside the all-time collegiate Top 10) thanks to swift carries from Marco Arop (1:46.00) and Dejon Devroe (1:46.85).
The biggest surprise of the weekend may have been Duke’s unlikely triumph in the women’s 4×4 (3:32.43), thanks to a 51.49 anchor from Canadian Maddy Price to edge Clemson (3:32.79).
Thursday 59-67, sunny; Friday 54-59, rain in morning, overcast; Saturday 68-74, partly cloudy. Attendance 22,862/38,137/47,756—108,755
PENN UNIVERSITY MEN’S RESULTS
(4/27—SM, DM, SH, LJ, SP)
100(1.5): 1. **Raheem Chambers’ (Aub) 10.22; 2. Cameron Burrell (Hous) 10.29; 3. *Mario Burke’ (Hous) 10.37; 4. **Cravont Charleston (NCSt) 10.42; 5. *John Lewis (Hous) 10.43.
110H(0.3): 1. *Chad Zallow (Young) 13.72; 2. **Joseph Daniels (Prin) 13.80 PR; 3. **Juan Scott (COh) 13.87; 4. **William Session (In) 13.88; 5. *Sidney Gibbons (Alb) 13.94 PR; 6. Kirk Lewis’ (Clem) 13.99 PR; 7. *Amere Lattin (Hous) 14.07.
400H: 1. **Jaelen Williams (Hamp) 51.23; 2. *Chad Miller (Amer) 51.35; 3. Demar Murray’ (Jam) 51.47; 4. Deron Gordon’ (Clem) 51.73; 5. ***Rivaldo Leacock (SC) 51.79; 6. *Rasheed Tatham (MsSt) 51.85.
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Houston 38.95 (Lewis, Burke’, Alexander, Burrell); 2. UTech’ (Jam) 39.39; 3. G.C. Foster’ (Jam) 39.47; 4. North Carolina Central 39.94; 5. Troy 40.25; 6. Coppin State 40.28; 7. Penn State 40.93.
4 x 200: 1. Middle Tennessee State 1:22.91 (Adedamola, Torian, Petty, Afful); 2. MICO’ (Jam) 1:23.01; 3. G.C. Foster’ 1:23.23; 4. Boston U. 1:23.99; 5. Coppin State 1:24.08; 6. LIU Brooklyn 1:24.15.
4 x 400: 1. Houston 3:01.82 (Lattin 46.0, Burke’ 45.7, Burrell 46.74, Montgomery 43.38); 2. Auburn 3:03.52 (Coakley’ 48.9, Bloomfield’ 43.4, Tenkiang’ 47.46, Allen’ 43.77); 3. Mississippi State 3:04.61 (James 45.78); 4. Rutgers 3:04.67 (Burgess 44.82); 5. Penn State 3:05.13; 6. Clemson 3:06.95; 7. Eastern Michigan 3:07.71; 8. Pitt 3:08.43.
4 x 800: 1. Mississippi State 7:14.16 (CL; out WL) (Nixon 1:51.06, Small 1:50.28, Arop 1:46.00, Devroe 1:46.85); 2. Indiana 7:15.24 (out AL) (Huntoon 1:51.18, Browning 1:48.76, Kuhn 1:47.52, Williams 1:47.80);
3. Georgia Tech 7:18.18; 4. Penn State 7:19.60; 5. Georgetown 7:21.97; 6. Notre Dame 7:25.74; 7. Princeton 7:25.76; 8. Clemson 7:26.88; 9. Columbia 7:27.370.
4 x Mile: 1. Villanova 16:23.75 (WL, AL, CL) (Wetzel 4:09.0, Malone 4:04.6, Marston 4:05.7, Comber 4:04.5);
2. Georgetown 16:24.22; 3. Princeton 16:25.16; 4. Iona 16:25.26; 5. Adams State 16:26.06; 6. George Washington 16:34.53; 7. Penn State 16:39.31; 8. Miami Ohio 16:40.25.
SpMed: 1. Penn State 3:15.25 (AL) (Smith, Moffett, Miner, Harris 1:44.74);
2. Clemson 3:15.52 (Lamb, Frazier, Green, Lewis 1:48.64); 3. Mississippi State 3:15.70 (Waters, Kowalchuk, James, Devroe 1:47.82); 4. Duke 3:16.52; 5. G.C. Foster’ 3:17.33; 6. St. Joseph’s 3:19.88; 7. South Carolina 3:21.84.
DisMed: 1. Villanova 9:34.37 (out WL, CL) (Malone 2:58.34, Faust 46.48, Lampinen’ 1:49.78, Comber 3:59.79); 2. Notre Dame 9:35.18 (out AL) (Dumford, Zajdel, Hansen, Nuguse 3:58.69);
3. Princeton 9:35.74 (Paulson 2:56.78, Freeman, Ingalls, O’Toole); 4. Indiana 9:36.89 (Kuhn 1:47.01); 5. Georgetown 9:38.54 (Bartelsmeyer 3:59.27); 6. Penn State 9:41.76; 7. Columbia 9:42.39.
4 x 110H: 1. Mississippi State 57.04 (WL, AL, CL) (Reed, Brockman, Wise, Spears);
2. UTech’ 57.14; 3. Navy 58.21; 4. Eastern Michigan 59.35.
Field Events
HJ: 1. ***Vernon Turner (Ok) 7-2¼ (2.19); 2. tie, Dakarai Hightower (StA) & Kareem Roberts’ (LIUB-Tri) 7-1 (2.16) NR; 4. *Samuel Shoultz (Md) 7-1.
PV: 1. Nate Richartz (NDm) 17-8½ (5.40); 2. **Sean Clarke (Penn) 17-4½ (5.30); 3. *Armand Woodley (SC) 17-¾ (5.20).
LJ: 1. *Yann Randrianasolo’ (SC) 25-1¼ (7.65); 2. Shawn-D Thompson’ (Jam) 24-11¾ (7.61); 3. *Treyton Harris (In) 24-9¾ (7.56); 4. **Jared Kerr’ (Hous) 24-5 (7.44).
TJ: 1. David Oluwadara (BU) 51-10½ (15.81); 2. Jeremiah Green (Clem) 51-5w (15.67) (51-4¼/15.65); 3. *Devon Willis (Alb) 51-0 (15.54).
CollTJ: 1. Anthony Applequist (CSF) 51-3½ (15.63).
SP: 1. Austin Droogsma (FlSt) 66-3 (20.19); 2. *Willie Morrison (In) 65-6¾ (19.98) PR; 3. Josh Awotunde (SC) 63-3¼ (19.28); 4. Jon Yohman (PennSt) 58-10¾ (17.95).
DT: 1. *Greg Thompson’ (Md) 201-1 (61.29) PR; 2. *David Lucas (PennSt) 200-0 (60.97); 3. Eric Mellusi (NEn) 189-2 (57.66) PR; 4. Josh Awotunde (SC) 185-3 (56.46) PR.
HT: 1. *Adam Kelly (Prin) 225-9 (68.82); 2. *Morgan Shigo (PennSt) 225-2 (68.65); 3. Michael Shanahan (NH) 222-5 (67.81); 4. Tom Parker (WM) 209-8 (63.90); 5. **Alexios Prodanas’ (MdBC) 207-3 (63.19).
JT: 1. Nicolas Quijera’ (MsSt) 242-1 (73.80); 2. ***Anderson Peters’ (MsSt) 237-10 (72.51); 3. Seth Zuidema (Ct) 223-2 (68.03); 4. **Michael Biddle (PennSt) 218-9 (66.68); 5. Zaavan Richards’ (Jam) 218-1 (66.49).
PENN UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S RESULTS
(4/26—400H, DM, PV, LJ, SP, HT, JT; 4/27—100h, 4×1, 4x2h, 4×15, SM, SH, TJ, DT)
100(0.5): 1. **Rebekah Smith (Clem) 11.31; 2. Torie Robinson (Clem) 11.32; 3. Leya Buchanan’ (Ok) 11.35; 4. *Gabriele Cunningham (NCSt) 11.45.
100H(1.0): 1. *Gabriele Cunningham (NCSt) 13.20 PR; 2. *Janelle Perry (UrsOh) 13.23 PR; 3. *Milan Parks (SC) 13.24 PR; 4. ***Caitlyn Little (SC) 13.27 PR.
400H: II–1. **Shannon Kalawan’ (StA) 57.30; 2. Candice McLeod’ (Jam) 57.78 PR; 3. *Markeeta Thomas (Clem) 58.73; 4. Jordan Shead (NDm) 59.43. III–1. Medinah Spencer (Ok) 58.76 PR.
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Auburn 44.14 (Shaw, Smith’, Bullock, Whyte’); 2. G.C. Foster’ 44.56; 3. Albany 44.83; 4. Clemson 44.85; 5. Houston 45.00; 6. Oklahoma 45.34; 7. Penn State 45.35; 8. Middle Tennessee State 45.36.
4 x 200: 1. Oklahoma 1:32.41 (Buchanan’, Van Buren, Giles, Spencer); 2. G.C. Foster’ 1:33.16; 3. Penn State 1:33.86; 4. Middle Tennessee State 1:34.78; 5. St. Augustine’s 1:35.68; 6. Houston 1:36.12; 7. Albany 1:36.62; 8. NCC 1:36.86.
Coll 4 x 200: 1. Boston U 1:35.61; 2. Georgetown 1:35.80; 3. Hampton 1:35.88.
4 x 400: 1. Duke 3:32.43 (Lowe 54.4, Kerr 53.3, Aveni 53.41, Price 51.49); 2. Clemson 3:32.79; 3. UTech’ 3:33.14; 4. Penn 3:36.52; 5. Maryland 3:37.98; 6. St. Augustine’s 3:38.20; 7. Columbia 3:38.70; 8. Connecticut 3:38.84.
Coll 4 x 400: 1. South Carolina 3:37.30; 2. Eastern Michigan 3:37.31; 3. Pitt 3:38.20.
4 x 800: 1. Villanova 8:19.98 (CL; out WL) (8 C) (Margey 2:06.67, McArthur 2:05.78, Keegan 2:04.91, Cléirigh-Büttner’ 2:02.63);
2. Indiana 8:25.79; 3. Monmouth 8:32.55; 4. Penn 8:35.12; 5. Vanderbilt 8:41.71; 6. Richmond 8:44.32; 7. Penn State 8:46.84; 8. Clemson 8:47.07.
4 x 1500: 1. Villanova 17:35.48 (WL, CL) (Margey 4:29.2, Ciluffo 4:24.2, Ryan 4:25.1, Hutchinson’ 4:17.0); 2. Indiana 17:41.32 (AL);
3. Eastern Michigan 17:42.74; 4. Vanderbilt 18:07.20; 5. Georgetown 18:08.79; 6. Penn State 18:15.31; 7. Georgia Tech 18:15.33; 8. Iona 18:22.53.
SpMed: 1. Clemson 3:45.05 (Robinson, Smith, Ferguson’, McIntosh 2:03.27); 2. Connecticut 3:47.41 (Aneno’ 2:03.55); 3. Penn State 3:47.80 (Rivers 2:02.98); 4. Duke 3:48.85; 5. Middle Tennessee State 3:50.11; 6. Indiana 3:57.24; 7. Morgan State 4:01.79; 8. Maryland 4:03.42.
DisMed: 1. Villanova 11:01.94 (out WL, CL) (Hutchinson’ 3:21.86, Keegan 55.71, McArthur 2:08.30, Cléirigh-Büttner’ 4:36.09); 2. Notre Dame 11:03.71 (out AL) (Hart 3:29.13, Shead 53.72, Murray 2:06.86, Harris 4:34.02);
3. Penn State 11:09.15 (Rivers 4:37.52); 4. Clemson 11:11.29; 5. Indiana 11:13.98; 6. Cornell 11:15.38; 7. Georgetown 11:26.31; 8. Princeton 11:28.46.
4 x 100H: I–1. Notre Dame 54.87 (AL) (Cronin, Sharp, Hunter, Thorpe);
2. South Carolina 55.42; 3. Clemson 56.57. II–1. Hampton 56.59; 2. Albany 56.99; 3. Troy 58.13; 4. Maryland 58.74. III–1. Penn 56.43.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Lissa Labiche’ (SC) 5-11½ (1.82); 2. *Anna Peyton Malizia (Penn) 5-10 (1.78) PR; 3. Megan McCloskey (PennSt) 5-10.
PV: 1. Katherine Pitman (Ithaca) 13-9¼ (4.20); 2. **Hailey Sweatman (SC) 13-5¼ (4.10); 3. Hannah Mulhern (PennSt) 13-1½ (4.00).
LJ: 1. Tissanna Hickling’ (Jam) 21-2½w (6.46) (20-5/6.22); 2. Keishorea Armstrong (Bing) 21-1½w (6.44) (20-1¾/6.14); 3. Jessicca Noble’ (Jam) 20-6½ (6.26); 4. **Samiyah Samuels (Hous) 20-5¾ (6.24); 5. Kayla Richardson’ (Md) 19-9¾ (6.04).
TJ: 1. **Natricia Hooper’ (Essex) 43-9¼ (13.34); 2. *Hanifah Abdulqadir’ (SC) 42-9½ (13.04); 3. Jakayla Hand (Aub) 42-3¼w (12.88); 4. ***Essence Thomas (Ok) 40-4¾ (12.31).
SP: 1. Jessica Woodard (Ok) 55-7¾ (16.96); 2. **Khayla Dawson (In) 55-4¾ (16.88); 3. Gleneve Grange’ (FlSt) 53-9¾ (16.40); 4. *Sunflower Greene (Millersv) 52-3¾ (15.94) PR; 5. Ieva Zarankaitė’ (FlSt) 52-2¾ (15.92); 6. **Divine Oladipo’ (Ct) 52-2½ (15.91); 7. ***Kathleen Young (SC) 51-4¼ (15.65).
DT: 1. **Shanice Love’ (FlSt) 184-1 (56.10); 2. Isheka Binns’ (Jam) 183-5 (55.92); 3. Ieva Zarankaite’ (FlSt) 174-6 (53.18); 4. Jessica Woodard (Ok) 172-11 (52.72).
Coll DT: 1. **Divine Oladipo’ (Ct) 177-11 (54.23) PR; 2. ***Lauren Jones (Ok) 174-9 (53.26) PR.
HT: 1. Ashley Bryant (Ok) 205-8 (62.68); 2. Leia Mistowski (WM) 200-9 (61.19); 3. *Nycia Ford (In) 198-8 (60.57); 4. Rachel Bergeron (Me) 197-10 (60.30) PR.
Coll HT: 1. Claudia Ababio (Md) 198-4 (60.45).
JT: 1. *Kylee Carter (Aub) 179-9 (54.78) PR; 2. ***Maura Fiamoncini (Buck) 176-11 (53.93); 3. ***Laura Paredes’ (FlSt) 172-1 (52.46); 4. ***Kelechi Nwanaga (MdBC) 170-4 (51.92); 5. **Gabrielle Kearney (Ok) 165-1 (50.33); 6. *Peyton Montgomery (Aub) 162-2 (49.43); 7. *Stephanie Sievers (PennSt) 157-0 (47.87); 8. ***Danielle Steff (Monm) 156-0 (47.55).
