6:10 p.m.: The Quakers finished second after a good comeback in the men’s Heptagonal 4x400m relay. In second to last place after the first two legs, Ben McKean and Sam Shepherd worked to close the gap and Penn finished in 3:16.14. Cornell, who won the race in 3:14.65, was out of reach after opening up a decent lead.
5:30 p.m.: In the college men’s Championship of America DMR, Villanova’s Matthew Gibney provided an exciting finish. On the last leg of the 1600m, he reeled in Arkansas, which led for most of the race, to give the Wildcats the win in 9:30.81.
It was the first Villanova victory in the event since 2001. Texas had won the previous three years. Jake Morse of the favored Longhorns made a move to close in on Villanova and Arkansas with just over 400 m to go, but couldn’t maintain the pace, giving the Longhorns a third place finish.
Running in the final heat of the DMR, Penn’s men clocked a 10:09.38, good for a 17th place finish overall.
I also just heard that the Tennessee women’s 4x1500 time of 17:08.34 is a new world record.
Some afternoon highlights:
The Penn women took a respectable 5th in the 4x 1500m relay and set a new school record at 18:11.87. The Sarah Bowman-anchored Tennessee team set a new college record in the 4 x 1500, finishing in 17:08.34.
For Penn, Anna Aagenes went out fast, running a 4:26.6 split to keep the Penn squad near the pack. The Villanova, Georgetown, Tennessee and Washington runners broke off during the second leg, leaving Penn’s Kinjal Parikh and Wake Forest’s Merry Placer to duke out the fifth and sixth positions. Penn’s Leah Brogan open up a lead on Wake Forest and freshman Laura Steel ran the last leg without any threats of being overtaken.
In the men’s 4x200m, the Penn squad of Alan-Michael Hill, Julian Domanico, Willie Harris and Sam Shepard finished second in their heat and 31st overall. Penn’s women’s 4x200 squad finished 32nd with a time of 1:39.42.
Vere Tech of Jamaica won the 4x100 Girl’s Championship of American, after seeing close competition from the girls of Eleanor Roosevelt (Md). This was the15th time Vere Tech has won this event.
Good Morning (or almost afternoon) from Franklin Field, the site of the 115th Penn Relays. I'll be here throughout most of the day, periodically posting updates. Please feel free to add your own comments or let me know if there is an event you'd particularly like to hear about.
Right now there's about another half hour of high school boys 4 x 100 meters heats. Later today, though, I'm looking forward to the college women's 4x1500 Championship (Tennessee looks to add on to its DMR championship yesterday; Penn is competing as well), the shuttle hurdles (a sort-of unique event, as the runners run at each other and each leg is the opposite direction from the one before it), as well as the college men's DMR.
Tags: Penn Relays
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April 26th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Krista -
Thanks for your Penn Relays reporting. I'd hoped others would respond first, but I didn't want it left that no one noticed or cared. In fact, as televised on ESPNU it seemed to generate huge excitement from fans and participants, and I wonder if you had a chance to see it? Franklin Field with full stands against the backdrop of the campus, and hosting the premiere track and field carnival in the country this side of the Olympic trials looked glorious. Some observations, which I hope you and others would comment on:
1) ESPNU not once mentioned the host school. I'll take the point that the word "Penn" was on the scoreboard and on each hurdle. That isn't precisely the kind of opportunity for Penn to market itself. (After all there's Penn tennis balls and Penn sporting gear, which aren't U of P adverts.) Did you see any non air attempts?
2) Contrast this with ESPNU's broadcasts from Princeton of the football and BB games. While praising Princeton University during the football game,and fawning (deservedly) over Pete Carrill, and interviewing the host AD, not one mention of the opponent school. I'm inclined to believe the Princeton part resulted from their active preparation and staging, while the Penn machinery was asleep at the switch and blew marketing opportunities.
3) Besides being a sports fan, I'm a huge fan of Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart. Do you enjoy them? I was thrilled when the Colbert Report was broadcast from Irvine during the Pennsylvania Primary. Other than the first evening's thanks to the host school, no mention of Penn was made other evenings. Wouldn't you agree that viewers of those shows are the type of audience Penn should be marketing to, and hence a great opportunity was squandered? Do you think other Ivies would blow such opportunities?
4) Notice any patterns?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts and comments.
EN
April 27th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Fringe event for Fringe players. totally off the radar for Penn people.
Agree w/ Ernie about penn machinery being asleep at the wheel.
I point finger directly at Bilsky. Too busy with his pet projects and micromanaging coaches and running the HOF Fencing guy into retirement.
Can someone please ask Bilsky about the ring?
April 27th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Unfortunately, I had a family commitment on Saturday, so I was only able to spend Friday at the Relays. On Saturday I caught maybe the last 20 minutes of the ESPNU coverage. While I am not defending Penn’s marketing department here, I do think the Penn Relays and a Princeton football game are different situations. I’m not sure how good of a platform the Relays are for marketing the school because there are so many other non-Penn participants. It’s not just Princeton and opponent on display. You’re going to say that the broadcasters should ramble on about Penn when Team USA is going up against Jamaica for the first time since Beijing? Did you happen to watch any of the Drake Relays on Sunday? Was anything said about Drake University? Perhaps that’s a better comparison.
I do think we need something better than that silly John Heisman commercial. I remember my freshman or sophomore year Penn didn’t even know it had rights to air a commercial. But the marketing issues are systemic, as you suggest with your example of the Colbert Report. It seems that Penn was trying to address its issues by hiring Nelligan in the fall, but I don’t see positive results from this on the surface yet.
April 28th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Krista -
Thanks for the response. I hadn't meant to suggest the announcers ramble on about Penn, just as I hadn't expected Colbert to go on about Penn either. What I had in mind were little things like, "Welcome to the Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania..." During a break there might have been a narrative of how the Relays started. And an announcer could have observed Franklin Field is adjacent to another historic landmark, The Palestra.
None of that happened, and the Relays might just as easily have been taking place at a Municipal stadium. If you are a senior and graduating soon, congratulations and all good wishes.
EN