Athletes including Michael Johnson, Gail Devers, Marion Jones. 45,203 spectators on Saturday, 102,193 overall. A world record set in the women's 4x200-meter relay. A total of 271 colleges with 7,200 athletes between them. Simply the premier amateur track meet on Earth.
The men's and women's track teams competed against this intimidating backdrop from Thursday through Saturday at the Penn Relays. But the Tigers refused to be awed by the competition, held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and came away with a solid showing.
"It was a fantastic performance," men's head coach Fred Samara said.
Princeton was paced by two of its cornerstones — junior captain Scott Denbo and sophomore Paul Morrison. In the 5000 meter championship, Morrison continued his tradition of great performances in big meets. Morrison took third overall in the event with a time of 13 minutes, 55.86 seconds — a new school record. The sophomore beat Dave Olds '83's mark by 0.04 seconds. His performance was the best by any athlete on an NCAA Division I squad.
Denbo, competing in the championship division of the shot put, threw 59 feet, 10.25 inches — claiming second place overall. The junior finished behind Arkansas' Marcus Clavelle by less than 1.5 feet.
'Tremendous achievement'
"Anytime you can place into the championship round, it's a tremendous achievement," Samara said. Denbo's finish of second overall, against some of the best athletes from around the nation, easily ranks as one of Princeton's top performances by any athlete this year.
Although Denbo and Morrison led the Tigers at the Penn Relays, other Princeton athletes had quality performances against strong competition.
Junior Jonathan Jessup — who also qualified for the championship round — tied for fourth place overall in the pole vault at 16-5. Other top performers in the field events for the Tigers included junior Dennis Norman and freshman Jeff Petrulis.
Norman and Petrulis battled in the Eastern division of the shot put. Norman's mark of 55-3 was good for third in the event, and Petrulis' throw of 50-2.75 earned him 12th.
Norman and Petrulis weren't done in the field, however. Both entered the college discus competition as well. Norman — tossing 164-5 — took fifth place, while Petrulis nabbed ninth at 144-10.
Passing the baton
Princeton also placed well in a number of relays. The men's 4x200 team, consisting of two seniors — captain John Mack and Paul Elcock — and two freshmen — Patrick Schottel and Cameron Atkinson — qualified for the IC4A division and finished third with a time of 1:25:41.
In the 4x100, Mack, Schottel and Atkinson were joined by freshman Paul Simbi. The team was 32nd overall among colleges — timing in at 42.01.
In the 4x1600, the Tigers were somewhat unlucky. The first three runners, Morrison, Smith and junior Biren Roy, had put the Tigers in position for a quality showing. "Then our anchor, [freshman] Bruce Hancock, had one of his shoes stepped on and it came off," Samara said. "So he had to run the last leg with one shoe, and we couldn't finish well."
In addition to Morrison's school record, the Tiger distance runners were strong. Senior Mike Spence took 13th in the steeplechase championship, clocking in at 8:57.82.
The Tiger women were also competing at Franklin Field, and a number of their relays finished strongly. The 4x400 team, running in the Heps division, took second place at 3:52.02. The relay was run by two seniors — captain Allison Brown and Mitka Hayes, and two sophomores — Lauren Simmons and Natalie Deffenbaugh.
Brown, Deffenbaugh and Simmons joined sophomore Holly Huffman in the distance medley relay and claimed eighth at 11:45.16. Individually, junior Sharon Jordan, battling in the Eastern division of the triple jump, leaped 11.70 meters for ninth place.
But for the Princeton men and women, Penn Relays is just another step, albeit a big one, on the way to the biggest meet of the season — the Heptagonal Championships.
"It's a positive meet going into Heps," Samara said. "We need scoring across the board at Heps."
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