:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63693883/Reanda_Richards.0.jpg)
The famed Penn Relays took place this past weekend for the 125th time at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rutgers had some notable performances in several events and we recap the action here.
Women’s Team
The sprint medley relay team comprised of a trio of freshmen in Iyanla Kollock, Ajae Alvarz-Tyler and Reanda Richards, as well as senior Jenna Sobieski, set the program’s best mark ever with a time of 3:48.63. It was five second faster than the previous record set in 2014 and resulted in a fourth place finish.
Sophomore Courteney Campbell won the high jump title in the college only division, leaping 1.67m (5’ 5.75”) high.
Richards came into the Penn Relays having run the second fastest time in the country in the 400m and continued to perform well. She finished in second place, running a time of 57.58. She has had a strong rookie campaign which includes a Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor after winning the Florida Relays.
Redshirt junior Rhonda Rogombe finished in fourth place in the high jump championship, leaping to a height of 1.74m (5’ 8.5”).
The 4x800m relay team comprised of Sobieski Richards, and fellow freshmen Mackenzie Prezume and Brooke Riedy produced their best time of the season at 8:46.80, finishing in sixth place.
Senior Oniesha Clarke made it to the finals in the 100m and finished in seventh place with a time of 11.89. She also finished 8th in the long jump championship, leaping a distance of 5.70m (18’ 8.5”).
#RUTF highlights from Day 2️⃣ at @pennrelays include:
— Rutgers Womens TF/XC (@Rutgers_WomenTF) April 27, 2019
♀️NEW SCHOOL RECORD - Sprint Medley Relay Team of Iyanla Kollock, Ajae Alvarez-Tyler, Reanda Richards & Jenna Sobieski
♀️Oniesha Clarke - Advances to 100m College Championship Finals#GoRU ⚔ pic.twitter.com/McinPrxWLb
Men’s Team
The Scarlet Knights had a trio of athletes finish in third place in three different events at the Penn Relays. Senior Chris Mirabelli, who set the school record in the javelin championship at this event in 2017, finished with a throw of 67.37m (221’). Fellow senior John Mooers threw a personal record of 56.45m (185’ 2”) in the discus championship. Sophomore Malachi Davis lept 15.49m (51’ 11.75”) in the triple jump championship.
Junior Michael Thomas finished sixth in the javelin championship with a distance of 58.74m (195’ 11”). Fellow junior Perry Christie reached a distance of 2.04m (6’ 8.25”) in the high jump championship
Senior Edward Zaleck, junior Sean Martinek, and sophomores Eric Barnesand Billy Hill ran a time of 7:47.06 to finish eighth in the 4x800 relay.
Alumni
Did You Know ... Two of R #RUTF Greats - Asha Ruth ('14) & Gabrielle Farquharson ('16) - will be with Team USA at @pennrelays on Saturday, April 27 pic.twitter.com/89j1up99mt
— Rutgers Womens TF/XC (@Rutgers_WomenTF) April 26, 2019
Ruth and Farquharson ran for the USA Blue 4x100 relay team, finishing in fourth place with a time of 44.60. They also ran the 4x400 relay, with Ruth’s Red team finishing fourth with a time of 3:31.95, while Farquharson’s Blue team finished in fifth place at 3:36.11.
For a complete list of results from the Penn Relays, click here.
What’s Next
The Big Ten Championships take place from May 10th through 12th at the University of Iowa. We will preview the action ahead of the meet.