In Wet Conditions, Green Outkicks Some Of NCAA's Best; Providence Gets Redemption In Women's 4x1500; Georgetown Outduels Oregon In 4x800; UNC Women Win 4x800

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos

PHILADELPHIA — Nathan Green didn’t mince words after anchoring his Washington Huskies 4xMile squad to a win in the Championship of America:

“We’re the greatest mile program in the country,” Green said. “We’ve backed that up for the past four years now.”

The Huskies ran 16:24.61 in the pouring rain, a sharp reversal from last year’s blistering race, which Villanova won in a collegiate record time of 15:51.91. Only one of Washington’s legs, Rhys Hammond, ran a sub-4:05 split in Saturday’s race. 

Green took the baton two seconds out of the lead and quickly found himself amongst a crew of the best distance runners in the NCAA: himself, Liam Murphy, Ethan Strand and Gary Martin.

“I didn’t know where I’d be, exactly, in those top four,” Green said, “but I knew that it was gonna be me, Ethan, Liam and Gary.”

All four were neck-and-neck at the bell lap, and of course, it came down to a kick. As the rain started to die down, Franklin Field erupted, and the announcers proclaimed that the four best milers in the country were charging down the home stretch. 

Green heard that, and he knew it was true, but he thought to himself, “I’ve got the top four milers on my team, so, alright, I’ll show you guys what’s up.”

He did just that, surging past his competition to break the tape and bring home the second trophy of the weekend for the Huskies.

In the women’s 4x1500 meter relay, Providence delivered one of the best redemption stories of the meet. Last year, Shannon Flockhart dropped the baton in the home stretch on the anchor leg and crossed the line without realizing it, resulting in a heartbreaking loss for the Friars. This year, seniors Flockhart, Kimberley May and Alex Millard knew they had to deliver — after years of ups and downs (Providence won the event in 2023), this was their last chance to take home another Penn Relays wheel.

“We’ve come second, we’ve been disqualified, we’ve fallen over,” Flockhart said. “Everything that was supposed to have gone wrong has gone wrong for us in the relays before. This was gonna be the last time that me, Kim and Alex are here, so we just wanted to go out with a bang.”

Georgetown won the college men’s 4x800 relay championship of America in 7:13.95, charging past Oregon in the final 100 meters. Tinoda Matsatsa, who anchored the Hoyas to a win in the sprint medley relay on Friday, took the third leg for this race, matching up against Koitatoi Kidali from Oregon. Matsatsa and Kidali ran the two fastest splits of the day, both under 1:47, and by the last handoff, they had separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

Abel Teffra took the baton for Georgetown, while Matthew Erickson anchored for the Ducks. It stayed a two-man race for about 750 meters, but Teffra had more left at the end.

“The first lap was a bit conservative, and that was really, really good for me,” Teffra said. “I kind of got boxed in a bit in this last turn, and I was hoping a gap would open up. I found a tight little gap and I squeezed right through it, and then I just outkicked Erickson.”

North Carolina won the women’s race in 8:20.24. The Tar Heels’ anchor, Makayla Paige, took the baton a few tenths of a second after Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich, who anchored the Tigers to a win in the women’s SMR championship on Friday. Paige split a 2:05.99, while Chepngetich only had a 2:07 left in her legs. Clemson finished over a second back in 8:21.39.

Texas A&M led gun to tape in the men’s 4x400 championship of America, finishing in 3:02.36. That performance gave them three of the top 10 4x400 results of the 2025 season.

Anchor Auhmad Robinson said putting trust in their coach and their program has been the biggest factor in his squad’s success.

“It’s gonna pay off once we buy into the same mindset,” Robinson said.

Duke won the women’s race in 3:27.77, preventing Texas A&M from sweeping the 4x400s. The Aggies finished over a second back in 3:29.12.

Meanwhile, the South Florida men brought home their fourth Penn Relays wheel in two years; the Bulls won the 4x100  relay championship of America, adding to their trophy in the 4x200 from Friday (they also won both last year). They finished in 39.00, nearly a full second ahead of runner-up Pitt (39.76).

Senior Alexavier Monfries said his team was excited about the victory, but their focus lies on the more important meets in May and June.

“We still have bigger things to come,” Monfreis said, “so this is just a stepping stone towards that.”

Texas A&M won the women’s 4x100 in 43.75, upsetting in-state rival TCU. 

Downpour doesn’t stop college sprints

Around 3:30 in the afternoon, the skies opened up above Franklin Field, but there were no lightning strikes, so the action continued. 

Iyana Gray (TCU) clinched a three-peat in the women’s 100 meter dash, beating Penn’s Fore Abinusawa by two hundredths of a second, 11.42 to 11.44. She knew Abinusawa would come in with a chip on her shoulder, as she was running on her home track, but Gray’s ambition was stronger.

“I just remained relaxed and trusted my abilities that I know that I have,” Gray said, “and didn’t crumble under the pressure.”

Rasheed Foster (MICO) won an even closer men’s race — the top three finished between 10.46 and 10.48. Tyson Williams (Johnson C. Smith) took second, followed by Solomon Hammond (Coppin State).

Oneka Wilson (Clemson) won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 12.94, beating out the Texas A&M duo of Jaiya Covington and Jasmine Harmon.

The Aggies brought home the title in the men’s hurdles, though; Ja’Qualon Scott took the win in 13.64.

Meet Record falls in Women’s Javelin

The weather certainly played a part in a relatively weak showing for the field athletes, but Irene Jepkemboi provided some excitement in the middle of the day with a meet record performance in the women’s college javelin championship. The TCU sophomore uncorked a 56.46-meter throw (185-3) on her last attempt, nearly 20 feet further than any of her previous throws. She won by over 10 feet.

Kampton Kam (Penn) won the college men’s high jump on his home turf, clearing 2.20 meters (7-2.50), the same height that Caleb Snowden cleared in the pro division.

Celia Rifaterra (Virginia) won the women’s high jump with a final height of 1.80 meters (5-10.75). She and her teammate, Carly Tarentino, were the final two remaining, and they both missed their first two attempts at 1.80. Rifaterra prevailed, though, while Tarentino missed her last attempt.

Other field event winners:

Milina Wepiwe (Harvard) and Casey Helm (Princeton) won the women’s and men’s college discus, respectively, with throws of 59.75 meters (196-0) and 63.37 meters (207-11).

Norrah Lemongo (Pitt) and Fred Moudani Likibi (Cincinnati) won the women’s and men’s college shot put, respectively, with throws of 16.34 meters (53-7.50) and 19.43 meters (63-9).

Patrick Freeman (Appalachian State) and Chloe Timberg (Rutgers) won the men’s and women’s college pole vault, respectively. Freeman cleared 5.26 meters (17-3), while Timberg cleared 4.46 meters (14-7.50).

Justin Sluijter (High Point) and Tri Tania Lowe (G.C. Foster) won the men’s and women’s college jump, respectively. Sluijter cleared 7.58 meters (24-10.50), and Lowe cleared 6.30 meters (20-8).

Donte Dockery (Wilmington) jumped 15.04 meters (49-4.25) to win the men’s college triple jump, while Shantae Foreman (Clemson) won the women’s division with a jump of 12.73 meters (41-9.25).

James Kotowski (UMass Lowell) won the men’s college javelin with a throw of 66.71 meters (218-10).