PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The App State men's and women's track & field team's second day at the Penn Relays was highlighted by a new women's distance medley relay program record. The Mountaineers have tallied two program records, nine top-10 finishes, and two event advancements thus far with one day of competition at the Penn Relays remaining.
With a time of 11:46.94, the women's distance medley relay team of freshman
Savannah Moore, sophomore
Nicole Wells, junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith, and sophomore
Rhys Ammon surpassed the previous program record of 11:59.12, which was set by Phylissa Greeley, Molly Pusateri, Torre Moser, and Elisa Sargent in 2017 at the Florida Relays. The quartet placed 14th in Friday's race.
Junior
Ray Lee qualified for the men's 100-meter finals after stopping the clock at 10.47 to place third in the prelims. Sophomore
Kendall Johnson also qualified for the women's 100-meter finals after clocking a time of 11.65 to place fourth in the prelims. Johnson will compete in the women's 100-meter final at 3:40 p.m. and Lee will compete shortly after in the men's 100-meter final at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday.
In the collegiate section of the women's pole vault, junior Ava Studeny recorded a clearance of 3.96m (12' 11.75") to place fourth. Sophomore
Jared Hiatt rounded out the top-five in the men's long jump with a leap of 6.92m (22' 8.5").
The men's distance medley squad of graduate student
Ethan Turner, sophomore
Miller Brannen, and freshmen
Rowan Gwin and
Henry Stark placed ninth with a time of 9:56.44. Their time was one second shy of the school record of 9:55.69, which was set at the 2012 Penn Relays. In the women's sprint medley relay, Johnson, senior
Mariah McCord, Wells, and Ollendick-Smith stopped the clock at 3:58.12 to finish ninth. The sprint medley quartet was also one second shy of the program record of 3:57.28, which was set at the Florida Relays in 2017. The Mountaineers also saw a ninth-place finish from senior
Matthew Bigelow, who recorded a clearance of 4.85m (15' 11") in the collegiate section of the men's pole vault.
Sophomore
Caleb Lopez placed 12th in the men's triple jump with a leap of 13.99m (45' 10.75"), while freshman
Jahaila Wright placed 16th in the women's triple jump with a leap of 11.62m (38' 1.5").
Thursday Rewind
Redshirt senior
Calbert Guest clocked a time of 8:41.01 for a sixth-place finish and new school record in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. The previous school record was 8:51.28, which was set in 2022 by Ryan Brown. Additionally, Guest became the first App State men's distance athlete to qualify for the USATF Elite Championships.
In the men's 1,500 meters, junior
Ethan Lipham won his heat and placed 10th overall with a time of 3:46.82. Senior
Emma Russum placed 23rd in the women's 5,000 meters with a time of 16:30.30 in the women's 5,000 meters, while freshman
Thomas Wlazlowski placed 33rd in the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 14:13.82.
All four Mountaineers clocked personal bests on Thursday.
App State will wrap up competition at the Penn Relays on Saturday. The Black and Gold's first field event of the day will be the championship section of the men's pole vault at 11:30 a.m. and its first track event will be the 3:40 p.m. women's 100-meter finals.
The Mountaineers will also take part in the LR Open in Hickory on Saturday. Field events will start at 9:30 a.m. and track events will start at 11:30 a.m.
App State at the Penn Relays Schedule
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)
