Lead By Example: The Fastest Times in Penn Relays History

There is an age old saying in sports: “There is no I in team.” Track and field may seem more of an individualized sport than one requiring a team effort. Perhaps the best way to eliminate this stereotype is by taking a look at one of the world’s most prestigious track meets centered around teamwork and camaraderie. The Penn Relay Carnival, dating back to 1893, is a three-day track and field competition focusing on relay and team events. Also known as “America’s largest amateur track meet,” the Relays take place on historic Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Philadelphia. An average of 22,000 athletes enter annually, participating from more than 60 different countries. “The Penns” hosts a variety of track runners ranging from middle school-aged children to professional adults. The awards and recognition of the Penn Relays are coveted symbols of success in the world of track and field. They are more than an accolade of a foot race, they are a representation of multiple individuals coming together, representing their country, and making their own history. So in anticipation of this year’s games (Apr. 24-26), we take a look back at some of the greatest moments from its history.

2001 was an eventful year for the boy’s distance medley relay team of South Lakes High School in Virginia. The distance medley is an extremely diverse race with both middle distance and long distance runners coming together on the same relay, something very rare in track and field. 400m runners and 1600m runners depend on one another, and this race was no different. The team of Richard Smith, Justin Smyser, Kanda Karno and Alan Webb battled with the fastest high school relay teams of the country to win the gold medal with a time of 9:59.66, a time that set a new Penn Relays record. The quartet went on to set the National Record later on in the same season with the time of 9:49.78.

Often referred to as the most difficult race to run in track, the 400m takes determination and strategy from the runner, and when you multiply that determination by four, the stakes are raised. The boy’s 4x400m relay team of Jucorie Tyron, Shaheed McCullough, Sultan McCullough, and Obea Moore set a Penn Relays record of 3:08.72, a personal best for the foursome. Despite their success in the race and four stellar performances, including anchor leg Moore’s personal best split time of 45.08, the team from Pasadena expressed disappointment with the time, telling reporters they weren’t happy and that they “[wouldn’t be] happy until [they] broke the record” set in 1985.

The girl’s 4x100m relay team of Long Beach Poly High School of California came ready to compete on Saturday at the track. A close race from the beginning, the final two legs, Jasmine Lee and Shalonda Solomon, emerged from the pack of fierce competition and led their team to a first place time of 44.96. They became the first American high school girl’s team to break 45 seconds at the Penn Relays. Poly went on to win the race the following year with a time of 44.50.

Vere Technical High School in Clarendon, Jamaica, had much to celebrate at the 2004 Penn Relays. Not only had their girls’ 4x100m relay won the Championship of America race, they broke the Penn Relay record. The team of India Spence, Maris Wisdom, Shameter Stewart and Simone Facey combined their speed and broke the meet record with an eye-popping time of 44.32. 2014 not only marks the tenth anniversary of this noteworthy race, but also marks the tenth year it has gone unbroken. In 2013, the foursome was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame for their stellar performance. They were also one of the few teams to be presented their medals on the award stand from longtime Penn Relay attendee and patron Mr. Bill Cosby.

The 1914 Penn Relays marked a historical change for the meet. Oxford University became the first international team to compete at the relays. Nineteen years after its first year, the Penn Relays had their first USA vs. the World race, and it did not disappoint. Entering the 4xMile relay were a team of young men including future world record holder Norman Taber and future Olympian Arnold Jackson. The group earned their tickets to America in a battle to the finish line against the University of Pennsylvania’s team on a rainy and muddy afternoon. Each of the four legs were a race to the finish, with the men digging deeper to secure their first place finish in the American debut. Oxford went on to win the race by inches, securing a spot at the 1915 Relays and opening the doors for other teams around the world.

A very diverse race, the distance medley combines speed, endurance and will power in the four legs it takes to complete it. The accountability of each team member is apparent; the 400m and 800m runners are expected to speed up the overall time of the race, while the longer distance runners are expected to set up the pace and finish the race as the first and last leg. The Villanova’s women foursome of Kathy Franey, Michelle Bennett, Celeste Halliday and Vicki Huber lived up to those expectations and took gold in the 1988 relays. Their time of 10:48.38 set a national, collegiate record that is still standing. The record breaking continued in 2013 when Bennett was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame, joining the ranks of her teammates Huber and Franey and making them the only women’s Wall of Fame team to include three individual Wall of Famers.

When the USA Men’s 4x400m relay team of Angelo Taylor, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington and Michael Johnson stepped on the track that sunny spring afternoon, they had some pretty big expectations to live up to. With the Summer Olympics a few months away and a crowd of more than 45,000 people in attendance, the men had steep competition as they were up against teams from Jamaica and Canada. U.S. Anchor leg Michael Johnson was having a stellar season as a part of his final year running professionally. Each man on the relay was an Olympic hopeful that had been training especially hard that season for the Olympic trails. With strength in the legs and desire for gold in their minds, the men pulled together to run a flawless race that ended with them cruising past the finish line, breaking both the Penn Relay record and a Franklin Field record with a time of 2:56.60, only a second and a half shy of the world record set by a team that Johnson was on a decade before.

Coming off an impressive world breaking year, the Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay left their competition in the dust with an exciting race that can be attributed to perfectly executed baton handoffs. The highlight of the event on that unusually hot, 90 degree April day was anchor Usain Bolt’s incredible finish to the race. With the “World’s Fastest Man” on your relay, it would have been easy for the men on Team Jamaica to run mediocre times and let Bolt pick up their slack. This, however was not the case; each leg battled against their competitors, and upon receiving the baton, team Jamaica was in the cluster of teams at the head of the race, all vying for the gold. Bolt then emerged ahead of the pack, effortlessly crossing the finish line with his competitors behind him. The anchor leg’s split time was 8.79 seconds, the fastest 100-meter split in the history of track and field.

On a Sunny Saturday at Franklin Field, the U.S. quartet of LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry and Marion Jones won the gold in the women’s 4x200m relay. This was the debut year of the “USA vs. the World” races, and these ladies had an unspoken expectation placed upon them to win the gold for the U.S. Gearing up for the approaching Summer Olympics in Sydney, the team shattered the pre-existing world record with a time of 1:27.46. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the race was anchor leg Marion Jones’ triumphant finish, after three strong legs of the race starting with Jenkins’ quick start and Colander-Richardson and Perry holding the momentum and sitting comfortably in the front pack of the race. Jones received the baton in second place behind team Jamaica; upon passing her opponent, Jones turned and stared at the Jamaican runner as she passed her on her way to the gold medal at the finish line. The crowd roared as the famous Penn Relay “U-S-A!” chant filled the stadium.

The Santa Monica Track Club entered the men’s 4x200m relay on Saturday at the track. With prominent Olympian and “World’s Fastest Man” (at the time) Carl Lewis on their team, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard and Mike Marsh had high expectations of themselves when they stepped on the track. Often described as one of the windiest Penn Relays, the sun came out just before the team took the track. The weather Gods were in their favor; all they had to do was take care of the rest, and they did. Running on world record pace the entire race, the team accredited flawless handoffs and teamwork to their victory that afternoon. With an impressive time of 1:19.11, the foursome became the first relay to break a world record at the Penn Relays. As exciting as the historic moment was, the professional athletes were still not satisfied. Burrell told reporters post race there was “no reason [they couldn’t] run 1:18 low.” Their strive for perfection and confidence in each other’s speed and abilities carried the men to notable Olympic performances in the Summer Games in Barcelona later that year.