Distance Relays, Field Event Streaks Front And Center In Philadelphia

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photo

The Penn Relay Carnival presented by Toyota, the nation's oldest and largest track and field meet, returns to Franklin Field in Philadelphia for 130th year. 

Here are 10 collegiate/pro storylines to follow:

Heavy hitters men's college 5,000 meters

Any time Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand are in the same race, it’s bound to be a good one. The two North Carolina standouts set the tone for a record-crazy 2025 season with 7:30.15 (Strand) and 7:30.23 (Wolfe) performances in the 3,000 meters at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener last December, both torching the collegiate record in the event. 

In February, Strand returned to BU and shattered the NCAA mile record, running 3:48.32 to become the first collegian under 3:50. He also won the 3,000 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. Wolfe, meanwhile, has had a quieter 2025 campaign since December; he took sixth in the 3,000 at NCAAs and helped his team to runner-up finishes in the distance medley relay at NCAAs and the ACC Indoor Championships. Wolfe and Strand will open up their outdoor seasons at Franklin Field.

They’ll be joined by Wisconsin’s Bob Liking, who picked up a pair of podium finishes in the 3,000 and the 5,000 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and took ninth in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational to open his outdoor season. Fellow Tar Heel Colton Sands will also be on the start line; he finished just three seconds behind the old collegiate 3,000 record in the midst of Wolfe’s and Strand’s legendary performances in December.

The meet record of 13:33.70 and the Franklin Field record of 13:27.07 are both in danger; Wolfe boasts a personal best of 13:10.75 from the Olympic Trials, while Strand ran 13:26.60 in his only 5,000 of the previous calendar year.

Records on borrowed time in Men's 4xMile and DMR

Last year, Villanova made history at the Penn Relays, breaking the 16-minute barrier in the 4xmile relay along with Virginia and Georgetown. This year, the Wildcats entered a squad not featuring Marco Langon or Liam Murphy, their two best runners, but the rest of the pack is there to pick up the slack. UNC trio Parker Wolfe, Ethan Strand and Colton Sands are doubling back from the 5,000 meters on Thursday night, giving the Tar Heels an advantage on paper.

Washington also has a strong squad — what else would we expect from Miler U? — featuring NCAA 1,500 meter champion Nathan Green on the anchor leg. Expect Wisconsin to be in the mix, too; Bob Liking and Olympian Adam Spencer will each take a leg for the Badgers. Virginia won’t have as strong a team as they did last year, but they still have Gary Martin, the second fastest collegiate miler ever.

Villanova’s collegiate record stands at 15:51.91. Using mile times and converted 1,500 times, four teams are faster than that mark on paper. Obviously, that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but given the right race, the record could have a short life.

It’s a similar story in the men’s distance medley relay, which could be Villanova’s opportunity to make their assault on the record books. Murphy and Langon will both take the baton in this race, as will Dan Watcke, who ran the third-fastest 1,000-meter time in NCAA history in February (2:17.77). Eclipsing the collegiate record of 9:14.10 would be no small feat — it would likely take personal bests from each member — but the Wildcats have been on fire the last few months, so they may be the team to do it.

They’ll be joined by Washington, owners of said record, as well as Virginia, the reigning NCAA champion in the event. The Penn Relays record is 9:20.10, set by Arkansas in 1989. That mark is also the fastest outdoor collegiate time ever.

Kenneth Ikeji Looks For Three-Peat In Hammer

Becoming a household name at the Penn Relays is no small task, but Harvard’s Kenneth Ikeji has the chance to do just that this weekend. In 2023, he squeaked by Tyler Merkley and Jordan Geist to earn his first title. Last year, he beat Duke seniors Christian Johnson and Aimar Palma Simo to clinch his second. Now a senior, he finds himself the favorite to take one more.

In early April, he opened his outdoor season with a throw of 72.96 meters (239-4) at the Jim Click Shootout — not quite enough to beat Geist, but enough to handily defeat his collegiate competition. At Penn, he won’t face anyone even close to his caliber; the two next best throwers are Penn State’s Nathan Williams and Manhattan’s Alex Kristeller, both of whom have thrown 66.83 meters (219-3) this season. Ikeji will more likely have his sights set on his own Penn Relays record of 74.15 meters (243-3), which he set last year.

Men's Mile Wide Open

With Yared Nuguse out of the mix, it’s any man’s race in the Olympic Development mile, an event that was once won by Sir Roger Bannister. 

Nuguse’s teammates from On Athletics Club, Mario Garcia Romo and Geordie Beamish, have both run under 3:50. Garcia Romo has the faster personal best at 3:47.69, but Beamish has a world indoor title to his name, and he possesses one of the most lethal kicks in the sport. Even with an 800 background, it’s hard to imagine Romo pulling away from Beamish in the home stretch.

And don’t forget about Luke Houser, either. The two-time NCAA mile champ has progressed steadily this season, running a personal best 3:51.14 in the mile on March 2 and taking home a bronze medal in the 1,500 a few weeks later at the World Indoor Championships.

With a pack like this one, a tactical race would not be surprising, and if that’s the case, don’t expect to see Nuguse’s meet record of 3:51.06 go down. Some last-lap heroics, though? That could be in store.

Vashti Cunningham Seeks 3rd Straight Women's High Jump Win

After Vashti Cunningham won her first Penn Relays elite high jump in 2017, the event took a seven-year hiatus from the meet. When it returned to Franklin Field in 2024, Cunningham took the chance to come back and defend her title, and she beat Sanaa Barnes on misses with a mark of 1.84 meters (6-0.5).

This year, she’ll have to contend with some of the nation’s best leapers, including Charity Hufnagel, who took fifth at the World Indoor Championships, and Zarriea Willis Hamilton, a former NCAA indoor and outdoor high jump champion.

If Cunningham, a 15-time national champion, can pull off another victory, it will technically be a three-peat, albeit over the span of nine years.

OAC Looks To Keep Rolling In Women's 1,500

The On Athletics Club always shows up for the Penn Relays, and this year is no exception. Josette Andrews, Maia Ramsden and Olivia Markezich — the latter two of whom are new additions to the club since last year — will toe the line in the women’s 1,500 meters. They’ll hope to follow in the footsteps of their teammate, Sage Hurta-Klecker, who won the event with a 4:07.10 performance last year. With Hurta-Klecker focused on Grand Slam Track this year and not in the field, it’ll be a wide open race. 

Adelle Tracey, the Jamaican national record holder in the event, has the fastest personal best in the field at 3:58.77, but Andrews, Nozomi Tanaka and Helen Schlachtenhaufen have all run under four minutes in their careers. Ramsden shouldn’t be counted out, either; she’s an NCAA champion in the 1,500, and last year, she anchored her Harvard squad to a win and a collegiate record in the DMR.

The Penn Relays record is 4:04.88, set by Andrews in 2023.

Collegiate Record Possible In Women’s 4x1500

This event kicks off an hours-long stretch of high-profile events on Saturday. The Arkansas women, led by Krissy Gear, broke the collegiate record in 2022, and their record is in jeopardy once again. 

The main players are NC State, Washington, Virginia, Providence and Georgetown. The Huskies have a great shot to sweep the men’s and women’s mile/1500 relays; they have two of the top 10 1,500 runners in the country in Chloe Foerster and Sophie O’Sullivan, as well as Amina Maatoug, who took fifth in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Virginia has Margot Appleton, though, who has the fastest 1,500 time in the country this outdoor season, a 4:05.68 at the Raleigh Relays.

Providence will be out for revenge; last year, they led most of this race before anchor Shannon Flockhart dropped the baton in the home stretch and finished the race without noticing she had dropped it. Flockhart is back in the lineup this year, along with Kimberley May, who ran 4:06.58 at the Raleigh Relays.

Georgetown also has some firepower with Melissa Riggins and Chloe Scrimgeour, and NC State, the defending champion, is led by Grace Hartman.

Texas Sprint Talent Showcase

This isn’t just a storyline for the Penn Relays; it’s a track storyline, period. The Lone Star State loves the sprints, and its sending its best to Philadelphia this weekend.

Last year, South Florida swept the 4x200 meter relays, and their men won the 4x100 as well. The Bulls are back in all of the sprint relays, including the 4x400s, where they’ll have to contend with Texas A&M, the defending champion on the men’s side and a two-time winner on the women’s side.

Meanwhile, TCU’s Indya Mayberry is the headliner in the women’s 100 meters. She won the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships and has run under 11 seconds this outdoor season (wind-assisted).

Houston’s Cayden Broadnax, meanwhile, is one of the fastest in the men’s 100; last year, his teammates Louie Hinchcliffe and Shaun Maswanganyi went 1-2.

Nia Akins Returns To Franklin Field For 800

The winner of the last two national championships in the 800 is back in her signature event at one of her signature meets. A UPenn alum, Akins has a long history at this meet. In 2019, she was the Athlete of the Meet.

Since her collegiate days, she’s made a name for herself on the global stage, to say the least; she’s a four-time national champion, and she took sixth in the 800 at the World Athletics Championships in 2023.

57-Year-Old Men’s Triple Jump Record On Watch

When Norm Tate set the Penn Relays triple jump record of 15.86 meters (52-0.25) in 1968, Lyndon Johnson was president. Nearly 60 years later, several men have the chance to take it down.

James Carter, the 2025 U.S. indoor champion, has jumped 16.88 meters this year, while Sean Dixon-Bodie, who took fifth at the Olympic Trials last year, has jumped 16.80 meters.

Jah-Nhai Perinchief, a 2024 Olympian and a former All-American at Texas Tech, is also in the field; he’s only competed once in 2025, jumping 16.71 meters in February, but he boasts a lifetime best of 17.03 meters, the best of the field.