PHILADELPHIA – The 121st Penn Relay Carnival offers the next challenge for the No. 1 ranked Texas A&M men and women this weekend with action starting on Thursday and continuing through Saturday at Franklin Field.
Large crowds and talented fields at the Penn Relays annually provide a showcase for the sport prior to upcoming conference meets and national championships. Coverage of the meet is available through a subscription service via Flotrack.org while a portion of Saturday's action will air on NBC from noon to 2 p.m.
“It's a rehearsal environment and the time of the year where we put our people in front of a great crowd,” said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. “The people who attend the Penn Relays are very enthusiastic about track and that is kind of a rehearsal for the national championships. We want to see how our athletes respond and that's why we go to a meet like this. The competition is always good and that's also a rehearsal of what's to come.”
Aggie relay squads take center stage this weekend in pursuit of the trophy wheels awarded to the winning teams. The A&M men are scheduled to compete in the 4x100, 4x400, 4x800, sprint medley and distance medley this weekend while the women defend titles in the 4x100 and 4x200 while also racing in the 4x400.
“Penn Relays is a great place to run and we will put a lot of relays on the track this weekend,” noted Henry. “This meet spreads you a little thin with the number of relays you can compete in. We have a major injury on the men's side right now with Bralon Taplin and Olivia Ekponé is just coming back on the women's side. It's a balancing act a little bit for us on both sides right now, we'll need some people to step in and fill some shoes.”
The A&M women have won six consecutive 4x100 titles and six of the past seven 4x200 titles at the Penn Relays. The run of six victories in the 4x100 is the longest consecutive win streak for any of the college women's relay races at the historic meet.
“The level of consistency our ladies have shown in the 4x100 and 4x200 is really kind of amazing at this track meet, because that just doesn't happen very often,” said Henry.
Over the past eight seasons the A&M women have claimed 16 relay victories amid four relay events while the Aggie men have six wins amid three different relays. In addition to the six titles each in the 4x100 and 4x200 the A&M women have won three shuttle hurdle relays and one 4x400. The Aggie men have claimed a pair of victories each in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 since 2009.
Challengers attempting to halt A&M's winning streak in the women's 4x100 include Oregon (43.31), UTech of Jamaica (43.13), Texas (43.70), and LSU (43.23). The Aggies are the current U.S. and collegiate leaders with a 43.03 from the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona. Prelims in the 4x100 take place on Thursday with the final set for Friday.
Oregon and UTech each have a sprinter amid their relay line-up who has produced a time of 10.92 in the 100 meters this season. Texas edged the Aggies, 43.70 to 43.72, during the Texas Relays, but A&M reversed that outcome this past weekend in winning the Michael Johnson Classic in 43.61 over the Longhorns 43.91 effort. SEC foe LSU recently clocked 43.23 and the Tigers have won this event 12 times at the Penn Relays, with the last victory coming in 2008.
In the 4x400 the Aggie women have finished third the past two years after winning the Penn Relays title in 2012. Texas set a meet record of 3:25.05 last year and returns three members of its relay order. Other contenders include Clemson, Duke and Florida State while Oregon, the runner-up in 2014, has not entered a 4x400.
Distance races on Thursday evening at Penn have become a proving ground for the Aggies. In the men's steeplechase Isaac Spencer has finished runner-up the past two years, running 8:49.43 in 2013 and 8:53.92 in 2014. This season Spencer faces a field that includes Duncan Tomlin of Yale and Connor Martin of Princeton as well as a pair from Georgetown in Max Darrah and Matthew Howard.
Racing in the women's 5,000 meters will be Hillary Montgomery, Grace Fletcher and Karis Jochen amid a field of 50 runners. The top three entrants in the race include Megan Curham of Princeton, Penn State's Tori Gerlach and Chelsea Blaase of Tennessee. Austin Wells competes in the men's 5,000 while Ryan Miller contests the 10,000 meters for the Aggie men.
Friday's action includes prelims for the men in the 4x100 and 4x400 along with finals of the distance medley relay and sprint medley relay. The A&M women will also have prelims in the 4x200.
The A&M men's 4x100, which won Penn Relays titles in 2009 and 2010, did not qualify for the Championship final a year ago. They face a field that includes returning champion UTech of Jamaica along with LSU, Florida State, St. Augustine's, Clemson and South Carolina. The Aggies recorded a collegiate best of 38.91 in a narrow win over LSU (38.93) at the Texas Relays while UTech posted a 38.23 in February during the Gipson Relays in Jamaica.
In the 4x400 the Aggies have the second fastest collegiate time of the season with the 3:02.19 they posted to win the Texas Relays. Challengers to the Aggies, who are the top seed at the Penn Relays, include LSU, who clocked 3:02.79 at a home meet this past weekend, UTech, Texas, Clemson, and St. Augustine's. A&M's most recent win at Penn occurred in 2013, while a dropped baton left them finishing fourth a year ago.
In the women's 4x200 Texas A&M returns as defending champion after a 0.05 margin of victory, 1:30.21 to 1:30.26, over Texas a year ago. The Aggies also defeated the Longhorns, 1:32.41 to 1:32.53, earlier this season to claim the Texas Relays title.
A&M has finished 10th in the distance medley at Penn the past two years. Oregon returns to defend their 2014 title and the field also includes Penn State, Georgetown, Villanova, Duke, Stanford, Oklahoma, Columbia, Penn and Texas. The Aggies enter the meet with a collegiate leading time of 9:38.99 from their Texas Relays victory.
The A&M sprint medley finished fifth a year ago and placed sixth in 2013 while their best finish was third in 2011. LSU returns as defending champions along with Penn State, winners in 2011 and 2012. The Aggies posted a 3:15.80 that threatened the school record of 3:15.10 as runner-up in the Texas Relays.
Saturday's finals will include the 4x800 for the A&M men along with Chase Wolfle and Audie Wyatt in the pole vault.
The Aggies finished ninth last year in the 4x800 and placed as high as third in 2011. In winning the Texas Relays, on a windy outing, A&M posted a time of 7:27.57 to defeat Texas (7:31.53). Top contenders in the race include Villanova, Penn State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, and Stanford. Georgia Tech is the current collegiate leader with a 7:21.87 from the Florida Relays with Penn State runner-up in 7:22.22.
Wolfle and Wyatt are part of a pole vault field that includes three entrants from Tennessee, including Jake Blankenship, and a pair from Texas. Blankenship, the 2015 SEC and NCAA Indoor runner-up, has cleared 19-0 ¼ (5.80) this outdoor season to place third in the Texas Relays.
Another Tennessee vaulter, Tyler Porter, has matched the 17-8 ½ (5.40) height that Wolfle has cleared this outdoor season while Wyatt enters the competition with a best of 17-4 ½ (5.30).
Penn Relay Carnival – Texas A&M Schedule (Central time listed)
Thursday
12:10 p.m. 4x100 relay W Heats
5:25 p.m. 4x400 relay W Heats
6:30 p.m. 3,000 Steeplechase M FINAL Isaac Spencer
7:40 p.m. 5,000 meters W FINAL Hillary Montgomery, Grace Fletcher, Karis Jochen
8:20 p.m. 5,000 meters M FINAL Austin Wells
9:55 p.m. 10,000 meters M FINAL Ryan Miller
Friday
11:35 a.m. 4x100 relay M Heats
12:00 p.m. 4x100 relay W FINAL
1:00 p.m. 4x200 relay W Heats
1:30 p.m. Distance Medley M FINAL
3:25 p.m. 4x400 relay M Heats
5:45 p.m. Sprint Medley M FINAL
Saturday
12:40 p.m. 4x100 relay M FINAL
1:00 p.m. Pole Vault M FINAL Chase Wolfle, Audie Wyatt
1:25 p.m. 4x200 relay W FINAL
3:40 p.m. 4x800 relay M FINAL
4:50 p.m. 4x400 relay W FINAL
5:00 p.m. 4x400 relay M FINAL