Josette Norris Runs Meet Record In Women's 1,500 Meters; George Beamish Wins Mile; Robert Farken Wins 800; Nia Akins Also Victorious In Penn Homecoming

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos

PHILADELPHIA — The On Athletics Club dominated the Olympic Development distance events at the Penn Relays, taking home wins in the men’s mile, women’s 1,500 meters, and men’s 800 meters.

Josette Andrews kicked things off with a win and a Penn Relays record in the women’s Olympic Development 1,500, kicking past Dani Jones and Nozomi Tanaka in the last 400 meters with a 61.47 split. She broke the tape in 4:01.76 and torched her own meet record, which stood at 4:04.88 from 2023.

Andrews said she came in planning to make a move in the third lap, and it paid off.

“I just felt like I had a lot of momentum, so I just went for it at 800,” Andrews said. “I tried to open it up but then keep leaving gears in the last 400. Every 100 (meters), I was trying to surge… I came away with the win, so I’m really happy with that.”

George Beamish followed that up with a signature win in the men’s mile. He said his kick didn’t quite live up to its typical lethal status, but it was still enough to beat the field, which consisted of several high-level names, including Wes Porter, Charlie O’Donovan, Mario Garcia Romo and Eric Holt.

“I don’t know about ‘most lethal (kick in the sport)’ today, but it got the job done,” Beamish said.

Beamish closed in 54.55 seconds, earning him an overall time of 3:56.85. He said he was at a much earlier point in his season than most of his competitors; due to injuries in the fall, he didn’t start training for his 2025 campaign until January. When he returned to the states from New Zealand at the beginning of the year, he told coach Dathan Ritzenhein that he wanted to be patient with his training.

“I said, ‘Let’s treat January, February and March like October, November and December in a normal year,” Beamish said. “We normally get on the track in the first week of January — that’s probably when we do our first track workout in a normal year — but for me, that was the first week of April this year.”

Beamish said his big goals for the season lie later in the summer, especially considering the World Championships are in September.

After Beamish’s race, Olympian Nia Akins briefly broke up the OAC onslaught, winning the women’s 800 meters on her former home track in dominant fashion with a time of 2:00.49; runner-up Cindy Bourdier finished more than two seconds back in 2:02.80.

Akins described her indoor season as a season of “ups and downs,” but she said she’s feeling more momentum lately.

“By the grace of God, I’m still here, and I’m so blessed to be out here and still trying to push the envelope and be better,” Akins said. “I think there’s a really good shot at running some PRs this season and shaking it up with the best.”

After Akins’ race, though, the OAC show returned — Robert Farken got in on the action with a win and a meet record in the men’s 800 meters. Farken went from sixth to first in the second lap, breaking the tape in 1:45.45.

Farken said he ran the race simply to give a shock to his system.

“Training has been very aerobic,” Farken said. “We’ve been hitting long workouts and long runs…there was a bit of uncertainty, so I’m very happy with how (the race) went.”

OAC members now hold the Penn Relays Olympic Development records for the men’s mile, women’s 1,500 meters, and men’s and women’s 800 meters. 

After a break in the action for some college relays, the Olympic Development events returned with the women’s 600 meters. Samantha Watson won that race in 1:28.30.

Watson, who finished fifth in the 800 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships, is primarily a half-miler, but she occasionally steps down to the 400 meters. She said the 600 meters, which isn’t commonly contested, is more like the 400 than the 800.

“It’s very fast from start to finish,” Watson said. “There’s really no time to relax like you could in an 800.”

Will Sumner, the winner of the men’s 600 meters, had a different view. The former NCAA 800-meter champion argued that while you can sprint the entire time in a 400, pacing is key in the 600, and if you try to race it like a 400, “you’re not coming home the last 100 meters.”

Sumner ran 1:17.36 in the 600 on Saturday to win by nearly a second.

Bailey Lear capped off the Olympic Development track events with a win in the women’s 400 meters. She broke the tape in 51.21, beating Jamaican Leah Anderson by more than a second.

Sanaa Barnes upset reigning Penn Relays champion and 15-time US champion Vashti Cunningham in the high jump. Last year, Barnes lost to Cunningham on misses, as they both cleared 1.84 meters (6-0.50). This year, however, she cleared 1.87 meters (6-1.50), while Cunningham remained at 1.84. 

Charity Hufnagel, the fifth-place finisher at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, also cleared 1.87m on Saturday and had two overall misses, but she had more misses on her final height than Barnes, giving Barnes the win.

Caleb Snowden won the men’s Olympic Development high jump, also on misses. He cleared 2.20 meters (7-2.50), as did Earnest Sears, but Sears missed twice on that height, while Snowden only missed once. USATF Indoor champion Vernon Turner took third, clearing 2.15 meters (7-0.50).

In the first Olympic Development men’s triple jump since 1968, Jah-Nhai Perinchief broke Norm Tate’s meet record set in that year, jumping 16.86 meters (55-3.75). Five men tied or broke Tate’s record.

Shanieka Ricketts led a 1-2 Jamaican finish in the women’s Olympic Development triple jump, jumping 14.17 meters (46-6).