North Carolina Preps For 4xMile Relay With Sensational Team Running In 5,000; Grace Hartman Breaks Meet Record In 1,500; Bullis Boys Fastest In 4x400 Prelims

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan PHOTOS

PHILADELPHIA — They came in wanting a regional qualifying mark, but the North Carolina trio of Parker Wolfe, Ethan Strand and Colton Sands left Franklin Field with a lot more Thursday night at the Penn Relays presented by Toyota.

Wolfe, Strand and Sands went 1-2-3 in the college men’s 5,000 meters and shattered the Penn Relays record, which fellow Tar Heel Ralph King had set at 13:33.70 in 1978.

Wolfe led the way with a 13:31.09 finish after leading most of the race. He clicked off 66-second laps for about two miles and then started to press, lowering the pace down to 61 seconds and taking Strand with him. Sands came from behind and passed Wisconsin’s Bob Liking in the last lap to give the Tar Heels a top-three sweep.

Wolfe said the focus of the weekend is on Saturday’s 4xMile relay, a race that will feature several of the best distance squads in the country.

“We just wanted to get a really good effort,” Wolfe said, “and set it up in a way where we could just get a regional mark, get out, and get ready for the 4xmile on Saturday.”

Wolfe and Strand have been laying siege on the NCAA record books this season. They both broke the 3,000-meter record in December at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, and Strand returned to Boston a few leeks later to become the first collegiate miler under 3:50, running 3:48.32 at the Terrier Classic.

Sands has also become prominent this season. He took third in the 5,000 at the ACC Indoor Championship and set personal bests in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000 indoors. He cited Wolfe’s and Strand’s influence as the biggest factor helping his development.

“I’ve just been following these guys since day one,” Sands said. “Living with Ethan, training with Parker every day… when you’re training with guys this caliber, it’s kinda hard not to get better.”

Liking, who finished fourth, also dipped under the old meet record, running 13:32.52.

Meanwhile, Grace Hartman (NC State) delivered another meet record performance in the women’s 1,500 meters, leading from gun to tape and clocking a 4:07.19. She said she had discussed making a move about halfway through the race with her coach beforehand, but as the pace slowed in the second lap, she decided to take the lead a little early.

“I wanted to make it a really good effort,” Hartman said. “I felt strong, so I just decided to run away and see what happened. I’m happy with it.”

Jake Allen (Penn State) won the men’s 1,500 meters in even more tactical fashion. He and the rest of the field clicked off 61-second laps all the way through the 1,200 mark, and then, of course, it came down to a kick. Allen had the best one, closing in 55.31 seconds to take the win with an overall time of 3:43.16. 

Texas A&M swept the 3,000-meter steeplechase races. Victor Kibiego put in a late surge to go from sixth to first in the last two laps of the men’s race, taking the win in 8:37.33. Kibiego said he was surprised to see the conservative early pace, and he decided to abandon any sort of focus on time after the first few laps.

“For the first lap, I had about 70, and I was just like, ‘What the heck,’” Kibiego said.

Kibiego had been dealing with a knee injury for about a year before this race. He said he felt great to be healthy and racing again.

Debora Cherono won the women’s race, which was similarly tactical, in 9:57.07. She clicked off 80-second laps for nearly the entire race and then made a move that nobody could answer, running a 73-second final lap and winning by three seconds.

Keeping with the theme of tactical racing, Vera Sjoberg (Boston University) turned on the jets late in the women’s 5,000 meters to take the win in 15:40.76. Sjoberg hung with the field for about 4,000 meters, running around 75 seconds a lap, and then threw down a 2:21 in the final 800 meters to win by nine seconds. 

Sjoberg said that without about three laps to go, her coach told her to “just go for it.” She was a little scared to make such a strong move, but she decided to just trust her coach, which paid off.

“I think it’s helpful sometimes to shut off your brain when you’re racing,” Sjoberg said, “because it’s always gonna hold you back a little bit.”

Sadie Sigfstead (Villanova) won the women’s 10,000 meters in 32:39.54, running solo for the last half of the race. She said she came in looking for an NCAA regional qualifying time, and she said she could not have accomplished it if not for her teammates, who paced her for nearly three miles.

Robert Cozean (Notre Dame) wrapped up the distance events with a win in the men’s 10,000 meters, running 29:01.23. He ran his last 800 meters in around 2:09.

Devin Nugent (Pitt) defended his title in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, running 50.36 to take the win. 

JodyAnn Dixon (Clemson) won the women’s 400-meter hurdles out of the second heat with a time of 56.86.

Kenneth Ikeji completed the three-peat in the men’s hammer throw championship, clinching his third straight Penn Relays title with a throw of 235-11. The Harvard senior faced some trouble staying inside the lines, fouling three times, but all three of his recorded throws would have won him the meet by at least 10 feet. He finished eight feet shy of his own meet record, which stands at 243-3.

Emily Fink (Army) won the college women’s hammer throw championship, throwing 216-4, putting her 10th on the all-time Penn Relays performance list. 

There were no high school track finals on Thursday, but Bullis MD had the fastest performance of the boys 4x400 heats, running 3:11.04. Unsurprisingly, Quincy Wilson had the fastest split of the day at 45.99.

Jamaicans Dominate Field Events

Out of seven high school boys field events, Jamaicans won five of them and took 11 of the 21 podium spots.

They dominated the shot put, taking all of the top three spots. Despiro Wray led the way with a throw of 68-5.75, the 10th-best mark of all time at the Penn Relays. No other competitor threw above 65 feet, and he did so on all four of his non-foul throws.

Devonte Edwards (Munro College) took second with a throw of 64-10.75, followed by Marlando Farquason (Cornwall College), who threw 64-6.50.

Peter Donini (Delbarton NJ), the Nike Indoor Nationals shot put champion, was the top American in fourth. He threw 63-11.5, an outdoor personal best.

Michael Andre-Edwards came within two inches of breaking the Penn Relays record in the triple jump, leaping 52 feet, 4 inches. He earned No. 2 on the all-time list and won by nearly four feet. He would have won with all five of his legal jumps.

Rikoy Hunter (St. Elizabeth Tech) and Romaine Lewis (Calabar) delivered a 1-2 Jamaican finish in the long jump with leaps of 23-11.50 and 23-8.25, respectively. That event was particularly weak for the Americans; none jumped over 23 feet. The top American, Andrew Ernst (Downington West PA), took seventh with a jump of 22-5.75 (for reference, 37 American high schoolers have jumped over 23 feet so far this outdoor season).

Addison James (Edwin Allen) won the javelin with a throw of 216-6, placing him ninth on the Penn Relays all-time list.

Chavez Penn (Jamaica College) won the high jump, clearing 6-10.25. 

The only Americans to win events were Ashton Hearn (Christian Brothers TN) and Jackson Gray (Woodford County KY). Hearn won the discus with a throw of 210-11, eighth on the Penn Relays all-time list and just shy of his personal best of 211-5. 

Gray won the pole vault, clearing 16-0. The senior has had a breakout season thus far; before this spring, his personal best was 15-6, and in the past month, he’s cleared 16 feet three times.