BOONE, N.C. - The App State men's and women's track & field team will close out the regular season this week as it splits for the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. and LR Open in Hickory, N.C.
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays, also known as the Penn Relay Carnival, is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States. It has been hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field annually since April 21, 1895. At this year's meet, 1,257 colleges and high schools from 35 states, as well as Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, South Africa, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom will be represented. The meet, which features over 200 events across three days, will be available to stream on FloTrack.
Action at the Penn Relays begins on Thursday. Junior
Ethan Lipham will start things off for the Mountaineers with the men's 1,500 meters at 6:45 p.m. Redshirt senior
Calbert Guest will compete in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 7:35 p.m. and senior
Emma Russum will race in the women's 5,000 meters at 8 p.m. Freshman
Thomas Wlazlowski will round out the night with the 9 p.m. men's 5,000 meters.
Sophomore
Jared Hiatt will lead off the Mountaineers on Friday with the men's long jump at noon. At 12:05 p.m., the women's distance medley relay (DMR) quartet of freshman
Savannah Moore, sophomore
Nicole Wells, junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith, and sophomore
Rhys Ammon will compete, followed by the men's DMR at 12:20 p.m., which will feature the quartet of freshman
Rowan Gwin, Lipham, graduate student
Ethan Turner, and Guest. At 12:30 p.m., junior
Ava Studney will make an appearance in the women's pole vault competition. Sophomores
Kendall Johnson and Wells, alongside senior
Mariah McCord, will race in the preliminary heats of the women's 100 meters, scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Junior
Ray Lee will compete in the preliminary round of the men's 100 meters, which is slated for 3:30 p.m. The top nine runners (the winner of each heat plus the next five fastest) in the women's event and the men's event will advance to the 3:40 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. men's and women's 100-meter championship races on Saturday. At 4 p.m., senior
Matthew Bigelow will compete in the men's pole vault, sophomore
Caleb Lopez will compete in the men's triple jump, and freshman
Jahaila Wright will compete in the women's triple jump. The women's sprint medley team of Johnson, McCord, Wells, and Ollendick-Smith will round out Friday's action at 6:10 p.m.
On Saturday, sophomore
Matthew Gray and senior
Patrick Freeman will appear in the championship section of the men's pole vault, which is slated for 11:30 a.m. Following the men's competition will be the championship section of the women's pole vault at 2:30 p.m., which will feature freshman
Lilly Nichols. The women's 4x800 meter quartet of Moore, Ammon, senior
Regan Hodge, and Ollendick-Smith will race at 5 p.m. with the men's 4x800-meter relay team of Gwin, Lipham, Wlazlowski, and freshman
Henry Stark following at 5:10 p.m.
LR Open
The Mountaineers will also compete at the LR Open on Saturday, hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, to close out the outdoor regular season. Field events are scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m., while track events will begin at 11:30 a.m.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers hosted the App State Open on April 18-19, which was highlighted by a new men's pole vault record, four facility records, five meet records, and 19 first-place finishes. Gray and Freeman both marked clearances of 5.35m (17' 6.5") to break the men's pole vault program record, facility record, and meet record. The pair surpassed the previous record of 5.34m (17' 6.25"), which Gray had set at the 2024 App State Open. In the women's pole vault, Nichols clinched first with a clearance of 3.92m (12' 10.25") in her outdoor debut, which moved her to third in the all-time list. The Black and Gold also saw first-place finishes in the women's and men's 4x100-meter relays, women's 4x400-meter relay, women's and men's 100 meters, women's and men's 400 meters, women's and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, men's long jump, men's shot put, women's discus, and women's javelin. Additionally, App State went 1-2-3-4 in the women's 200 meters and women's 10,000 meters.
Five Mountaineers also appeared at the Wake Forest Invitational on April 18, where Lipham stopped the clock at 3:50.00 to place 29th and Gwin rounded out the top-40 with a time of 3:52.62 in the men's 1,500 meters. In the men's 5,000 meters, Turner (14:10.99), Guest (14:18.64), and Stark (14:22.17) placed among the top-40.
Last Time at the Penn Relays
The Mountaineers last appeared at the Penn Relays in 2015, where they tallied 12 top-50 finishes. Stanley Broaden placed fifth in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.24 and rounded out the top-25 in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.66. With a time of 36:12.76, Dana Cox placed 13th in the women's 10,000 meters. Brianna Tate placed 13th in the women's shot put (13.68m (44' 10.75")) and 17th in the women's hammer throw (49.40m (162' 0")). Henry Bustle registered top-20 finishes in the men's triple jump (14.43m (47' 4.25")) and men's long jump (6.99m (22' 11.25")). Broden and Bustle also competed in the men's sprint relay alongside Josh Hanna and Ryan Hastings, clocking a time of 1:53.05 to place 18th.
Last Time at the LR Open
The Mountaineers opened the 2024 outdoor season at the LR Open. Studney broke the App State program record in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 4.04m (13' 3"), surpassing the previous record of 4.02m (13' 2.25"), which was set in 2017. In addition to the broken school record, the Black and Gold totaled 20 event wins and tallied 54 top-five finishes.
Ranked Mountaineers
Russum remains the Sun Belt's leader in the women's 10,000 meters and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Joining Russum in the SBC top-five in the women's 10,000 meters is freshman
Breanna Budzinski. Additionally, Hodge joins Russum in the league's women's 3,000-meter steeplechase top-five. Guest continues to lead the Sun Belt in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase and is joined in the top-five by Liphman and Wlazlowski. Guest and senior
Oliver Wilson-Cook stand third and fourth, respectively in the men's 10,000 meters. Gray and Freeman remain knotted at second in the league's men's pole vault rankings, while Nichols checks in at third in the women's pole vault category. Wells checks in at third in the women's 400 meters. Lipham and Gwin rank third and fourth in the men's 1,500 meters, while Turner and Stark stand third and fourth in the men's 5,000 meters. The men's 4x100-meter relay quartet of freshman
Brandon Parker, sophomore Armonté Ferguson, Lee, and freshman
Jonathan Wilson stand fourth in the rankings while the women's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman
Zaniya Littlejohn, Wells, McCord, and Johnson round out the league's top-five. Individually, Johnson rounds out the top-five in the women's 200 meters.
Eighteen Mountaineers in 14 events stand among the top-25 in the NCAA Southeast Region. Gray and Freeman are tied for 11th on the NCAA East Preliminary Qualifying List and 27th in the NCAA overall in the men's pole vault category.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will compete at the Sun Belt Championships, hosted by James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., on May 8-10.
App State at the Penn Relays Schedule
Thursday, April 24
6:45 p.m. College Men's 1,500 meters (Championship)
7:35 p.m. College Men's 3,000-meter Steeplechase (Championship)
8 p.m. College Women's 5,000 meters (Championship)
9 p.m. College Men's 5,000 meters (Championship)
Friday, April 25
12 p.m. College Men's Long Jump (College)
12:05 p.m. College Women's Distance Medley Relay (College)
12:20 p.m. College Men's Distance Medley Relay (College)
12:30 p.m. College Women's Pole Vault (College)
3:10 p.m. College Women's 100 meters (Prelims)
3:30 p.m. College Men's 100 meters (Prelims)
4 p.m. College Men's Pole Vault (College)
4 p.m. College Men's Triple Jump (College)
4 p.m. College Women's Triple Jump (College)
6:10 p.m. College Women's Sprint Medley (Championship of America)
Saturday, April 26
11:30 a.m. College Men's Pole Vault (Championship)
2:30 p.m. College Women's Pole Vault (Championship)
**3:40 p.m. College Women's 100 meters (Championship)
**3:45 p.m. College Men's 100 meters (Championship)
5 p.m. College Women's 4x800-meter Relay (College)
5:10 p.m. College Men's 4x800-meter Relay (College)
