Tokyo gold medalists Mu, McLaughlin top elite bill at 126th Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA – Returning to action at Franklin Field after a two-year hiatus due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the 126th edition of the Penn Relays promises to again be a carnival of track and field treats in the City of Brotherly Love.
 
In addition to the traditional high school and collegiate events featuring many of the nation’s top prep and NCAA programs, this year’s meet has some intriguing matchups in the elite division. Friday’s evening session has five middle- and long-distance races, while Toyota Day on Saturday showcases 10 international races from the sprint hurdles to the 5km race walk.
 
Possibly the most eagerly-anticipated matchup of the elites comes in the women’s 600m, where Olympic 800m champion and American record holder Athing Mu goes up against World Indoor 800m champion Ajee’ Wilson, a Philadelphia favorite, and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule. Wilson has run the second-fastest time ever in the 600m with a 1:22.39, and Mu checks in at No. 9 on the all-time performer list with an indoor 1:23.57. Goule was eighth in the Tokyo 800m final and has a best of 1:25.37 for 600m.
 
Sadi Henderson (1:58.62 800m PR) is the other sub-2:00 half-miler in the field, and Rhode Island high schooler Sophia Gorriaran is the No. 4 prep on the all-time high school 800m list with a 2:00.58 indoors earlier this year. Olivia Baker was the runner-up  in the 800m at this year’s USATF Indoor Championships to make the World Indoor team, and Nia Akins was a Trials finalist last summer. Kameron Jones had the fourth-fastest men’s indoor 600m time in the world this season at 1:15.27 and will battle with Ghana’s Alex Amankwah, who has a best of 1:15.76.
 
Sydney McLaughlin, the Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, drops down in distance to run the 100m hurdles, where she has a lifetime best of 12.65. Two-time Jamaican Olympian Shermaine Williams has run 12.78 in her career, a time matched by Trials semifinalist Evonne Britton.
 
This year’s fastest man in the 110m hurdles at 13.12, Olympic fourth-place finisher Devon Allen, faces 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 World Championships gold medalist Omar McLeod of Jamaica. Both men have cracked the 13-second barrier in the event, well clear of the rest of the field.
 
Two-time World Championships relay gold medalist Wil London brings a lifetime 400m best of 44.47 into the men’s 300m, where he will take on Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald, twice an Olympian and the owner of a 43.93 PR in the 400m. McDonald has run 31.94 for 300m, but that was seven years ago. Marqueze Washington finished sixth in the 400m at the World Indoor Championships in March and has clocked 45.24 in his career, while Devin Quinn will come at it from the other end of the sprint spectrum, bringing in a 100m PR of 10.01 and a 200m best of 20.31.
 
Charlene Lipsey, who was seventh in the 800m at the 2017 World Championships, has the fastest PR in the women’s 1,500m field at 4:04.98. A pair of BYU alums, 2021 NCAA outdoor 1,500m champion Anna Camp-Bennett and NCAA cross country champion Whittni Morgan, should offer strong challenges, as will 2019 NCAA indoor 800m champion Danae Rivers. Canada’s Corey Bellemore is the fastest entrant in the men’s mile at 3:57.20.
 
Fresh off winning USATF 20km race walk titles last weekend, Nick Christie and Miranda Melville headline strong fields in the 5km walks. Christie is the defending champion in this event at the Penn Relays, winning in 2019 with a 19:53.43, and has had a string of superb outings at longer distances this year. Canada’s Benjamin Thorne, who was second as a guest walker at the USATF 20km last week, has clocked 19:00.92 for 5km and was the 2015 World Championships bronze medalist at 20km. Melville’s career best of 21:41.99 for 5km puts her in good stead against 19-time U.S. walks champion Maria Michta-Coffey, who won her first of seven Penn Relays titles in 2008. Michta-Coffey, who won six in a row from 2013-18, has a PR of 21:48.09 that she set in winning her last Penn title in 2018.
 
Friday’s bill is topped by the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, where Olympian Mason Ferlic has the fastest time by an American this year after winning at the Oregon Relays last week in 8:23.92. His challengers will include Trials fifth-place finisher Isaac Updike and Travis Mahoney, who was ninth in the Trials final. Carmen Graves is the fastest woman in the steeplechase here with a 9:41.80 she ran in the heats at the Trials.
 
In the men’s and women’s 800m, 2018 World Indoor silver medalist Drew Windle and 2021 NCAA indoor mile champion Sage Hurta are the fastest entrants, with Windle sporting a 1:44.63 lifetime best and Hurta a 2:00.08 PR. Former Texas A&M star Devin Dixon has also dipped under 1:45 in his career and has the best top-end speed in the men’s field, but Britain’s Kyle Langford boasts a fourth-place finish at the 2017 World Championships. Maryland high schooler Juliette Whittaker was a semifinalist at the Olympic Trials last summer and has a best of 2:01.15, and Laurie Barton was the NCAA outdoor runner-up for Clemson last year with a lifetime best of 2:00.65.
 
Though the 4xMile relay is not a recognized world record event by World Athletics, Empire Elite and a mixed-nationality team representing On AC will shoot for the best time ever run, 15:49.08 by an Ireland squad in 1985. Colby Alexander had a series of speedy indoor efforts earlier this year and his 3:52.84 mile PR is the best of the Empire quartet. On AC’s Olli Hoare of New Zealand was a 1,500m finalist at Tokyo last summer and has clocked 3:50.83 indoors in the mile. Those two will need their teammates to help the foursomes average 3:57.26 or better to claim the fastest time ever.
 
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