For Villanova, Houston, no place to be other than Penn Relays

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Even as competing events on the same weekend have caused prominent college track programs to peel away from the Penn Relays in recent years, the storied meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia has also been embraced by some others who will continue to hold it tightly.

This weekend, the line of college teams throwing full support behind the 124th Penn Relays began with Villanova and Houston.

Villanova could do no wrong at this weekend’s meet, perhaps surfing the wave of Philadelphia sports heroics in 2018. The Wildcats won five Penn Relays wheels – three for the women (DMR, 4x800, 4x1,500 for the second straight year), two for the men (DMR, 4xMile).

It was the first time that the Villanova men won two wheels in the same meet since 1984, when current head coach Marcus O’Sullivan was a senior.

O’Sullivan said that the Penn Relays, in many ways, define the program year after year, a fact he hasn’t always been fond of but is tactful enough to admit.

“Penn broke me completely my junior year of college,” O’Sullivan said of his 1983 experience. “You talk about a depression. We lost everything for the first time in 20 years.”

Contrast that with the next year. O’Sullivan said the success he felt winning Penn Relay titles in 1984 meant more to him than making the Irish Olympic team that year.

“You have to assess yourself by some measures and parameters and for me it always has been Penn,” O’Sullivan said.

Casey Comber was the anchor for Friday’s DMR victory and Saturday’s 4xMile, for which he teamed up with Logan Wetzel, Ben Malone and Andrew Marston.

The women’s team won its sixth wheel in two years on Saturday, with Kelsey Margey, Rachel McArthur, McKenna Keegan and Siofra Cleirigh Buttner running 8:19.98 to win the 4x800 relay. Buttner ran 2:02.63 on the anchor.

While sprint powers in the SEC opted to compete in Fayetteville or Baton Rouge this weekend, the University of Houston chose to make its mark at Penn. The Cougars won two wheels Saturday – taking the men’s 4x100 relay in 38.95 and the 4x400 in a school-record time of 3:01.82.

Coach Leroy Burrell didn’t mince words after the conclusion of the meet.

“To us, this is where a track and field team should be this weekend,” he said. “And to me, personal, because I’m from Philadelphia, it’s a little bit disingenuous to try and create a meet because this one’s difficult. We rise to those challenges. This made us a better team today. We’re going to go out and do what we do and we’re going to come here next year and continue to try and make this the best track and field meet in the world.”

Houston had a goal of winning three wheels this weekend, but an out-of-zone violation in the 4x200 prelim on Friday prevented the Cougars from getting there.

“We didn’t get the tricycle, but we still get to ride a bicycle,” Burrell said.

The 4x100 time was a bit slow. Elijah Hall, the ace of the sprint corps, is not 100 percent healthy and did not run.  

Cameron Burrell, Mario Burke and John Lewis III finished second, third and fifth, respectively, in the 100 meters. Amere Lattin was seventh in the 110-meter hurdles.

“Our goal today was to dominate the relays that we were in,” Burrell said. “To come back and perform like that in the 4x4 was incredible. We’re looking forward to the next one and continue moving on.”

Duke, with a 51.49 anchor from Madeline Price, won the women’s 4x400 with 3:32.43, the second-fastest time in program history. It was Duke’s first victory in a sprint event at Penn Relays.