2016 Penn Relays

2016 Penn Relays Women's Preview

2016 Penn Relays Women's Preview

With the 2016 Penn Relays set to stream LIVE on FloTrack this Thursday, we prepared an in-depth preview of the best showdowns coming your way this weekend i

Apr 26, 2016 by Meg Bellino
2016 Penn Relays Women's Preview
With the 2016 Penn Relays set to stream LIVE on FloTrack this Thursday, we prepared an in-depth preview of the best showdowns coming your way this weekend in Philly!

Oregon Sprint Relays Look to Dominate Competition, Make History


The Oregon women's 4x100m team became the third-fastest in NCAA history at this year's Mt. SAC Relays with a time of 42.68. That mark is just over a tenth of a second away from the Penn Relays record of 42.59, and their chances of breaking it on Friday afternoon are looking good. The squad of Jasmine Todd, Deajah Stevens, Hannah Cunliffe and Ariana Washington have been on a tear since they ran 42.88 over Pac-12 rival USC, then lowered their time and school record by .2 at Mt. SAC. After a series of exchange mishaps in recent years (including the 2015 Penn Relays and NCAA Championships), it appears that the Ducks have finally put together the fiercest squad in the NCAA.

Watch the Ducks' 42.68 run at the Mt. SAC Relays:


Texas A&M has dominated this event for the last seven years, but LSU holds the Franklin Field/Penn Relays record of 42.59 from 2008. With no Aggies or Tigers in the mix, the women of Oregon are the favorites to hold their first 4x100m relay wheel. 

The Ducks won their lone wheel of 2015 in the sprint medley relay (200, 200, 400, 800), and now they're bringing what seems to be an even stronger team into the 2016 race: NCAA 100m leader Cunliffe, Todd, Stevens and NCAA 800m champion Raevyn Rogers on the anchor. She will need to get past UTech’s Simoya Campbell if the Ducks want to repeat.

Watch Campbell split 56 seconds in the opening lap of the 800m at the World University Games:

The Jamaican team from UTech will run Chanice Bonner, Donya Ewers, Janieve Russell (fifth at 2015 World Championships in the 400m hurdles, 51-second 400m PB) and Campbell. Campbell holds an 800m PB of 1:59.26 from her silver medal performance at last year’s World University Games. Compared to Rogers’ 1:59.71 best, this race could be one for the ages.

Sydney McLaughlin and the Union Catholic 4x400m Relay


Dominant high school junior Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic (NJ) will make her Penn Relays debut in the 4x400m relay. The team of Tia Livingston, Amari Onque-Shabazz, Cassandra Lamadieu and McLaughlin ran 3:40.28 to win New Balance Indoor Nationals in a new meet record. 

McLaughlin split 51.6 on the anchor and holds PBs of 51.84 (400m) and 55.28 (400m hurdles). Barring any tragedies, this team should face stiff Jamaican competition in the finals.

Hear what McLaughlin had to say after running the national high school record in the indoor 400m:

Last year, Edwin Allen brought home the wheel in 3:40.41, Vere Technical finished second in 3:42.18 and Nabsemond River (Suffolk, Virginia) held it down for the U.S. in third. None of these squads possess an anchor leg to match McLaughlin, but St. Elizabeth Tech (Jamaica) may.

Enter Junelle Bromfield, who finished second in the Penn Relays high school 400m hurdle race last year (1:00.80) and has had a monster 2016 season. At the ISSA Boys & Girls Champs, she won the 1500m (4:40.77), 800m (2:09.7) and 400m in a blistering 51.74! She lowered her 800m PB to 2:06 on March 28. 

It could be a historic event—2008 was the last year an American team won the girls high school 4x400m, so keep an eye on Union Catholic and the epic anchor-leg showdown that may ensue.

Deep Fields for Women’s 4x800m, Distance Medley Relay


Remember in 2013 when the race came down to Oregon 800m stud Laura Roesler and Villanova miler Emily Lipari? I don’t think anyone expected Lipari to find another gear and out-kick Roesler, but it’s the Penn Relays, and the race ended in an NCAA and Penn Relays record of 8:17.45.

Fast forward to 1:49 to see Lipari vs. Roesler:

This year's 4x800m race once again has the potential to be something special. Could 8:17 go down? Here are Villanova’s splits from 2013: 2:07.04, 2:04.12, 2:04.04, 2:02.25. Oklahoma State, Oregon and Georgetown ALL have the talent to break the collegiate record and get everybody at Franklin Field on Saturday afternoon on their feet.

Here are those squads (in no particular relay order) with their personal bests:
Oklahoma State - Kaela Edwards (2:01), Savannah Camacho (2:02), Kaylee Dodd (2:06), Clara Nichols (2:04)
Oregon - Raevyn Rogers (1:59), Annie Leblanc (2:01), Brooke Feldmeier (2:03), Lilli Burdon (4:38 mile PB)
Georgetown - Sabrina Southerland (2:03), Andrea Keklak (2:04), Sarah Schmidt (2:04), Heather Martin (2:04) 

Last year, Villanova blew everybody out of the water (with a four-second victory) after slow first and third legs. With Oklahoma State and Oregon in the mix, we could see a rematch between NCAA mile champion Edwards and two-time NCAA 800m champion Rogers. 

Watch Edwards hand Rogers her first NCAA loss since winning the 2015 Pac-12 Outdoor Championship:

Substitute Villanova for Oregon, and we'll see the same squads in what will surely be a hot distance medley relay. The Georgetown Hoyas won the NCAA title back in March and have a reliable anchor in fifth-year Katrina Coogan. The Oklahoma State team can always count on Edwards, and betting on Villanova at the Penn Relays is, well, smart.

Even against a powerhouse team like Stanford, don't count out the Wildcats at Franklin Field:


Read the complete men's Penn Relays preview here!