Tigers have a ball at Penn Relays Carnival

The Penn Relays Carnival is aptly named. Imagine a gathering of the nation's top runners — not only the fastest collegiate runners, but also athletes from high schools as far away as Jamaica and professionals from across the country. For five days, the atmosphere at Franklin Field is indeed festive. Held since 1895, this prestigious annual meet attracts more than 15,000 athletes to Philadelphia to compete against the best.

"Penn Relays is definitely one of the most prestigious meets in the U.S., and it draws many of the best teams in the country," junior Dave Nightingale said. "The atmosphere in Penn's stadium is pretty amazing too. It was exciting to be standing next to the other anchors for the DMR [Distance Medley Relay] before the race, knowing that I was next to a bunch of sub-four milers from the U.S. and abroad."

Though there are individual events, the weekend's emphasis is the relay, an event that challenges the cooperation and coordination of a four-member team. The men's team was up to the challenge, as the distance medley team of junior James O'Toole, senior Rich Stewart, junior Kurt Kuehne and Nightingale placed eighth. The men's team in the 4x800 college division placed 11th out of 33 teams, finishing less than 10 seconds behind the first-place team.

"We run Penn Relays mostly to try some events that we don't ordinarily do during the regular season," Nightingale, who anchored the DMR, said. "Even so, the DMR [is] still useful in order to compete against other teams, gain experience in larger meets and improve our racing tactics."

The Tigers also saw strong performances in the field, placing two athletes in the top four in the high jump. Junior Alex Willis placed third, and freshman Justin Frick placed fourth.

On the women's side, senior captain Catha Mullen and freshman Reilly Kiernan both had outstanding runs in the "championship" distance races Thursday evening. Mullen finished third out of 29 competitors in the 5,000 m championship race, with a phenomenal time of 16 minutes, 19.24 seconds. Kiernan finished fourth out of 29 competitors in the 3,000 m championship race, missing second place by less than a second and finishing the race at 9:39.06. The Tigers also claimed their first victory the same night in the 3,000 m steeplechase. Sophomore Megan Brandeland finished first, with senior Jen Johnson right behind in second.

In relays, the team of Mullen, junior Liz Bergold and freshmen stars Christy Johnson and Liz Costello won the college 4x800 event in 8:48.09, beating out three teams in the 4x800 "Championship Of America" section.

A myriad of Tigers also traveled to The College of New Jersey to compete at the Lions Invitational. Whether recently injured, failing to qualify for Penn or wishing to compete in several events not available at the Penn Relays, the Tigers took advantage of the Lions Invitational.

"Another reason people run in this meet is to get ready for the back-to-back running that will happen at Heps the following weekend," sophomore Chris Vasich said. "Heps is a two-day meet, and coaches want to get the athletes prepared for this by running some at the Penn Relays and then others again the day after at the TCNJ meet to get them used to running while they are tired and sore from the day before."

Sophomore Ian Thomson began the day for the Tigers with a strong performance, winning the 400 m intermediate hurdles in a time of 55.30. Vasich followed in the 110 m high hurdles, finishing second. Freshman Tim Brangian found similar success in the 5,000 m, placing first.

The women captured three titles at the invitational. Junior Karen Aherne claimed the 800 m at a time of 2:15.77. Junior Courtney Regan won the pole vault, and sophomore Emma Giunipero had the winning discus throw of 139 feet, three inches.

These two meets marked the last competitions before the Heptagonal Championships next weekend. Both the men's and women's teams will fight for the title at Princeton's own Weaver Track and Field Stadium.