U.S. Elite Track and Field News

Caught in the Penn Relay Buzz

April 28-30, 2011 - The city of Philadelphia was buzzing once more with the sound of horns from traffic congestion and jay walking. Athletes from all over the world mixed in with local residents and university students scampered all around the city streets. But inside the Franklin Field an occasional calm followed by loud outbursts to end each race.

The collegiate competition was fierce as usual with the weather cooperating for the most part. Even though the last day of competition began with wind chills, the relay teams warmed up the track early with riveting performances. A little over 48 thousand spectators filled the stadium in their bright array of colors. Memorable performances came from colleges like Tennessee whose women last year desecrated the 4x1500m relay with their anchor leg Phoebe Wright who is now a new addition to team USA. However, under the leadership of the former Fort Valley State University coach Marlow Mincey, Georgetown was projected as the favorite entering into the event. This trajectory was upset by Boston College with a winning time of 17:25.19 with Georgetown following closely behind in 17:25.65. The 4x1500m relay has not been won by Boston since1975 so this was a great victory for them.

Another striking relay performance came from the College Women 4x200m Women Championship of America won by Texas A&M with a time of 1:29.32 which was their third champion title of the day. In addition, the ECAC top runner in the 4x200m was Morgan State University with a time of 1:36.53.

On the men’s side, LSU captured the first place title in the College Men 4x100m Championship of America in 38.77 barely missing the Penn Relays record 38.68. This time will record as the second fastest 4x100m in the history of the Penn Relays and LSU’s nineth victory in the event. The champions were presented their award by the legendary Carl Lewis.

In the high school section, the excitement was no less than it has been over the years. The High School Boys 4x100m Championship of America was as usual packed with teams from Jamaica. Wolmer’s Boys of Jamaica set the record in this event last year with a time of 39.78 and was back to defend their title. This time they were a hair shy of their own record but desecrated the field to regain their title with a time of 40.42; Monroe College and Camperdown High School also of Jamaica followed closely behind with 40.52 and 41.69 seconds, respectively.

As the events continued, Bill Cosby gave the spectators much to chuckle about in introducing and starting some of the races. While introducing the Philadelphia Area High School Boys 4x400m, he commented that it was one of the first races that the Jamaicans were not in. The spectators agreed with a loud applaud. As usual, the very organized Penn Relays came to a close before sun down, leaving spectators to maneuver themselves through the heavy flow of the crowd through the narrow tunnels; but to the spectators, “it’s all worth it.”

Olympic Development (OD) News

In Friday’s press conference, USA vs. the World, the first panel consisted of Kenia Sinclair (JA), Sanya Richards-Ross, Phoebe Wright and Alyson Felix (USA). This year will be an interesting showing with Phoebe Wright going head-to-head with Kenia Sinclair on the 800m leg of the sprint medley relay. Sinclair, who usually battles Hazel Clark will now contend with Phoebe who competed with University of Tennessee last year and one of their top athletes. Richard-Ross was back in full gear from her injury that she sustained last year at the Penn Relays. She maintained “I have no lingering feelings from my injuries from last year”, so she is ready to compete.

The men’s panel consisted of Walter Dix and Russel Brown from the USA and Jeff Riseley from Australia. There were no representatives for the rivals—Team Jamaica—because the athletes were in training. Usually, the panel would be composed mainly of sprinters but there was a twist this time around to include the distant runners because events like the DMR was usually overlooked, Chaz Dorman illuminated. In 2006, a relay team from Kenya set the record in the DMR, an event that the USA has never won at the Penn Relays. However, Australia was one to watch this year with Jeff Riseley, the world’s fastest man in the 1500m and Australia’s anchor leg.

In Saturday’s showing of the SMR in which Jamaica had won consecutive years prior to this, the fans did not seem skeptical about who would take the crown this time around. This was very evident in their applause from the introduction of the athlete line-up on the track. Jamaica started out with a clear lead and then the baton was handed off in first place to Kenia Sinclair, the anchor leg. Phoebe Wright seemed to be make up the distance early but couldn’t close the gap as Kenia opened up the field and gave a strong finish in a time of 3:34.64 barely missing the world record set at 3:34.56. Team USA Red finished second with 3: 37.81 followed by USA Blue with 3:43.17, Russia and Nigeria.

The OD Men 4x100m relay which was won by Jamaica last year with Usain Bolt anchoring the winning team created a buzz in the stadium because no one knew who the Jamaican team would be consisted of this year. However, applauses rang throughout the stadium when Asafa Powell, also a fan favorite, graced the track for the Jamaican team. Also, many spectators were surprised when Justin Gatlin appeared on the field, his first USA track and field showing since his four year ban for allegedly using performance enhancing substances. Justin who is usually an anchor leg ran the first leg of the relay for USA Blue (USA’s “B” Team). Walter Dix who had been focusing on the 100m over the last year was set to anchor the team. The race began with Gatlin out of the blocks very strong, but his team did not completely follow through, leaving the victory to the Jamaicans in 38.33 with USA Red following closely behind. The USA Red Team consisting of Shawn Crawford, Ivory Williams, Mike Rogers, and Darvis Patton contributed their loss to poor baton exchanges. The athletes all agreed that the selection process for the USA relay teams needed to change and hoped that the new CEO will make things better.

USA Red won the Men’s 4x400m in 3: 02.40 and proved to be much competition for the Bahamas, Grenada, USA Blue, and Jamaica who seemed to have been lost in the competition. Bershawn Jackson who ran a 44.51 on the third leg extended the lead to Angelo Taylor for the win.

In the Women’s 4x100m, USA Red rained victorious with Lauryn Williams to lead off the team which broke the record set in this event in the year 2000 with a time of 42.28. The team consisted of Carmelita Jeter, Lauryn Williams, Alyson Felix and Marshavet Myers. According to Jeter, this was the team’s first time running together and exploring a new team dynamic that they think is working. Williams followed up by stating that “we all trusted each other to run a great leg.”

USA Red, like the Men’s team, also won the Women’s 4x400m in 3: 22.92 just missing the Penn Relays record ahead of USA Blue, Jamaica, and the World All Stars. This was another disappointing performance by the Jamaican team who made a valiant effort to close the gap in the race, but could not pervade over the two USA teams. Among the field participants were also Grenada and Canada.

Many spectators and coaches seemed to like the changes in Penn Relays Program this year, particularly the USA vs. the World events that were now spread out over numerous other events instead of being clustered together as in previous years. This allowed high school and collegiate athletes to display of their talents in front of a packed stadium that would have otherwise cleared out after the USA vs. the World events had been completed. For more information and complete results of the three days of competition, visit www.ThePennRelays.com.

Justin Gatlin’s Return to the Track

Each year at the Penn Relays, there is continuous media frenzy as reporters and photographers have a rare chance to interact closely with elite athletes from across the world. On Friday April 29, 2011, a host of reporters gathered in the press room not only to hear the Olympic Development athletes speak about their preparations and future endeavors, but anxious to hear the athletes thoughts about the return of Justin Gatlin to the track after being banned for four years of competition for allegedly using performance enhancement substances. Gatlin who had remained under the radar last year by competing abroad has been chosen to been to represent the USA at the Penn Relays this year. His race on Saturday will be his first in a USA jersey since 2006. Gatlin has earned many coveted track titles, the highest of which is the 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100m dash.

The USA Women team members who appeared fickled about why the reporters questioned them about Gatlin’s return were nevertheless very supportive of their teammate. The athletes shared the consensus that they are moving forward and staying positive. This reaction was no less than the than that of the men’s panel last year when Darvis Patton conceded that the press should stay away from dwelling on the negative aspects of the sports but to highlight the young talented athlete who are the future of track and field.

Marshevet Hooker exclaimed that it will be a humbling experience for Gatlin to run in front of such a large crowd. When the men’s panel was asked the same question about what they thought about Gatlin’s return, Asafa Powell of Jamaica stated, “He’s done his time. He’s just a competitor.” The panel which also included other members of the Jamaican 4x100m relay team, noted that Gatlin should be granted a fair chance in the sport as he has shown penitence and has continued to show that he still possess the skills to compete at a high level. The display of support for Gatlin by his peers, especially his teammates did not seem to be diplomatic but quite genuine.

In Saturday’s press conference, followed by the ODM 4x100m, Jill Geer, Chief Public Affairs Officer of USA Track & Field introduced Gatlin to the buzzing reporters to set the record straight. Geer announced that Gatlin was reinstated because he has a great chance of making the team. First to mention, Gatlin denounced any implication of guilt towards his prior banishment because of his character and upbringing. Gatlin—who after he was banned, tried his hands at football unsuccessfully—was asked if football was in any of his aspirations. In Gatlin’s response, he exclaimed that his love was for track and field and he was not pursuing football.

During the interview, Gatlin seemed very composed and at ease with the line of questioning and even displayed a little wit which created a wave of occasional laughter in the room. Gatlin reported that he was ready to come back to the sport of track and field and had been working very hard with his coach Brooks Johnson in Florida who he claimed was his greatest source of motivation. Gatlin had been careful not to let the “noise” distract or discourage him, or as he pronounced in his coach’s simple words “let your feet do the talking.” To verify Gatlin’s competitive ability that many had been questioning, he pointed out that in 2010 he ran the 100m in 10.04 against Yohan Blake of Jamaica and in 2011 he clocked 20.30 in the 200m. These performances, despite the fact that he was now older than most of his competitors, were confirmation of his ability.

Following the Penn Relays, Gatlin’s next showing will be in Ponce, Puerto Rico. As Gatlin confidently moves forward under the world’s microscope, he seems prepared to deal with the challenges ahead with respects to his career in track and field. Many will be watching his progress towards the 2012 Olympics and are equally anxious how the competition will fair with his new rival Usain Bolt.