PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, April 27–29 — The Stanford women made the most of their whirlwind trip to Franklin Field for the 127th Penn Relays, taking the distance medley relay in a swift 10:50.56 despite chilly temperatures and steady rain.
Just as they had done at the NCAA Indoor, Melissa Tanaka (3:19.93), Maya Valmon (52.15) and Roisin Willis (2:04.82), gave anchor Juliette Whittaker a comfortable cushion — and the pressure of being chased. And once again, Whittaker ran a well-paced solo effort to secure the win, ahead of Oklahoma State (10:53.18). Her 4:33.66 carry was more than enough to hold off Billah Jepkirui (4:32.73), who couldn’t make much of a dent into Whittaker’s lead.
Virginia (10:58.05), Georgetown (10:58.78) and Notre Dame (10:59.14) all dipped under 11:00 in an incredibly deep field.
“I knew Oklahoma State was on the hunt,” said the prize frosh, who returned to Penn a year after winning the high school mile. “It felt like indoors, being out front with my great teammates getting me such a great lead. It’s definitely hard running alone, but I just tried to stick to the pace and make them work to come get me.”
Tanaka, a grad student who ran the 800 leg on the Quakers’ winning DMR team in ’19, was feeling nostalgic. “It’s super special being back at Penn,” she said of her alma mater. “Even just being back on the track, it’s kinda like my home track in a way. It feels very natural to be back here, I couldn’t have asked for more.”
About two hours after becoming the No. 5 school with the 6th-fastest time, the Cardinal quartet hopped on a plane home so they could race against Cal in the next day’s Big Meet. That left the door open in Saturday’s 4×8 and 4×15 races. The shorter of the two was won by Penn State in 8:23.81, nearly 5 seconds clear of Washington.
Providence took the 4×15 win in 17:11.35, thanks to Kimberly May’s finishing kick, which relegated Oklahoma State and Jepkirui to runner-up status for a second day in a row.
Texas A&M was the weekend’s most successful program, picking up three titles, in the 4×1 (43.63), 4×4 (3:25.97) and sprint medley (3:50.64 in Friday’s cold downpour). Jermaisha Arnold was part of the sprint medley and 4×4 wins, anchoring the latter in 49.79 to overtake Ohio State (3:26.56).
“Texas A&M left our mark here…
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