Abell Smashes School Record on Day One of Penn Relays – Texas A&M Athletics

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Julia Abell shattered the 3000m steeplechase to lead a strong start for the Texas A&M men’s and women’s track team on day one of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field on Thursday.
 
Entering the day with three career sub-10:30 marks, Abell ran the race of her career, crossing the finish line in 10:13.74. The clocking breaks the previous school record of 10:24.38 set by Annie Fuller last year by over 10 seconds, as Abell now holds four of the top five marks in school history. She currently holds the third-best time in the SEC this year.
 
In the men’s 3000m steeplechase, Teddy Radtke improved his personal best with a time of 8:54.00 for a sixth-place finish. His second time under the nine-minute mark, Radtke improved his sixth-best mark in Texas A&M history, shaving seven-tenths of a second off his previous mark. His time is currently the fastest in the conference this year. Francesco Romano finished the race in 9:09.90.
 
Grace Plain recorded a nine-second personal best in the women’s 5000m, clocking 16:29.20 to lead the Aggie trio including Maddie Livingston and Abbey Santoro across the line. Plain’s time makes her the No. 9 performer in school history. Livingston recorded a time of 16:43.87, while Santoro clocked an outdoor personal best of 16:52.07.
 
James Smith II recorded a season-best time of 50.77 in the 400m hurdles, leading teammate Bryce McCray (51.28) to an Aggie 3-4 finish. Smith has improved his season best at every meet he has competed at this outdoor season.
 

In Texas A&M’s last event of the day, the men’s 5000m, Eric Casarez was the first Aggie across the line, finishing seventh in 13:51.02. Chandon Chhikara clocked 14:16.02, his second best time ever, while Jonathon Chung recorded a personal best time of 14:24.41, shaving just over a tenth of a second from his previous best.
 
Next Up
The team will continue competition on day two of the Penn Relays, led off by the women’s 4x100m relay at 11:45 a.m. CT. Follow the live results provided by Penn Relays Online and watch the live stream from FloTrack.
 

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