Arnold, Aggie Women Claim More Hardware on Day Three of Penn Relays

Thursday, April 27

Philadelphia, Pa.

Texas A&M

Penn Relays

Apr 29, 2023 | Track and Field

Penn Relays Results

By: Matthew McGinnis, Athletics Communications

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Aggie women won the 4x100 and 4x400m relays, while Jermaisha Arnold was awarded Women's Relay Athlete of the Meet for her performances this weekend as the Texas A&M men's and women's track & field teams concluded competition at the Penn Relays on Saturday at Franklin Field.

The Aggies got off to a strong start in the women's 4x100m final as the team of Jania Martin, Camryn Dickson, Leeah Burr and Semira Killebrew broke the tape in a time of 43.63. The win marks the eighth straight victory for a Texas A&M women's 4x100m team competing at the Penn Relays, as the team won titles from 2009 through 2015.

The other Texas A&M victory came at the end of the day in the women's 4x400m race, as Kennedy Wade, Tierra Robinson-Jones, Sanu Jallow and Jermaisha Arnold clocked 3:25.97 to top the field. Arnold got the baton in second place behind Ohio State, but stayed patient and made a move to pass them going into the home stretch, crossing the line after a 49.79 split to secure the victory for the Aggies.

Including Friday's sprint medley relay, the Aggie women claimed three Penn Relays wheels. The last seven times Texas A&M has run at the Penn Relays, there have been four occasions where the women have won three events at the meet (2010, 2011, 2013, 2023).

Arnold's performance in the 4x400m and Friday's sprint medley relay victory earned her the Penn Relays Women's Relay Athlete of the Meet award, presented to the top female performer on a relay team. Arnold joins Gabby Mayo (2010) as the lone Aggies to win the award.

The men's mile relay finished runner-up with a final time of 3:04.52, their third fastest clocking this outdoor season. Ashton Schwartzman and Omajuwa Etiwe got the Aggies off to a hot start, coming through the halfway point in 1:31.78. James Smith II, running in place for Auhmad Robinson, split 46.80 before handing off to DeMarco Escobar in second place. Escobar threw down a surge in the final 100m, but his split of 45.95 wasn't enough to bring the men to victory.

The men's 4x800m team of Cooper Cawthra, Caden Norris, Gavin Hoffpauir and Sam Whitmarsh finished fourth with a time of 7:14.50, less than half a second off the school record of 7:14.02. On the anchor, Whitmarsh received the baton in fifth place, almost four seconds behind the leader, before grinding out a split of 1:46.73, which was five hundredths of a second off the fastest split of the race. He made a move to compete for the lead before the three leaders powered through to the line, leaving the Aggies in fourth, just over two seconds behind winner Ole Miss.

In the men's 4x100m final, the Maroon & White team composed of DeVante Mount, Ryan Martin, Isaiah Teer and Jordan Chopane claimed fourth, clocking 39.74. The Aggies got off to a strong start, but Houston and G.C. Foster, a college in Jamaica, powered ahead on the back curve.

Jaiya Covington placed third in the women's 100m hurdles, finishing with a time of 13.38 to claim the final spot on the podium, while Connor Schulman clocked 13.77 to earn bronze for the Aggies in the 110m hurdles.

Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Pat Henry
On the team's performance at the Penn Relays…
"Texas A&M left our mark here at the Penn Relays. The women won three events in the sprint medley relay, the 4x100m and the 4x400m, while the men finished second in the 4x400m and fourth in the 4x100m and 4x800m. That's big time. This meet is about letting our athletes experience this environment and performing to the best of their ability. We've done the things that we set out to do by coming here."

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