Penn Relays 2010: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Unofficial journalist Steve Shisler updates Saturday's action at Penn (with some extra useless comments from someone who only watched it on the computer!)

If you still need an un official report from Penn I'll give a brief review:

Saturday at Penn was the biggest mob scene ever with 54,000 fans in attendance.  Beth and I were there early to watch Alex run for State High in the 4x400.  He did a great job and brought the stick home for a nice 3rd place finish. It's almost as nerve racking to watch your kid as a parent versus running there, but not quite.

Usian Bolt was clearly the attraction of the day and had the fans going wild just doing a few striders on the infield more than an hour before the actual race.  When race time finally arrived the buzz was at a fever pitch.  A chant (I'm not sure if it was "U-S-A" or "Ja-mai-ca") broke out right at the star of the USA vs World 4x1. The starter had to bring the guys up and then scold the crowd to be quiet so the runners could hear the gun.

Jamaica delivered and won the race in 37.90 with Bolt being clocked in 8.79 for his anchor split.  What struck me as odd was the fact that Bolt then proceeded to take a solo victory lap.  I pretty sure there were 3 team mates who brought the stick around the track to him, but perhaps Bolt ran the 37.90 by himself.  The fastest human of all time appears to have never seen a camera he doesn't like. (The Ugly)

The Penn State women easily won the ECAC heat of the 4x200 which I believe awards watches for the victory.  3 of the 4 ladies came back late in the day and finished 4th in the Championship of America 4x400. (Fawn Dorr and the gang = The Good)

The Oregon Ducks without Andrew Wheating easily took the 4xMile title. 

The 4x800 has been hyped for many weeks as the race to watch on Saturday and it certainly delivered although not with the result we were cheering for.  PSU got out very strong on the first 2 legs with Freshman Cas Loxsom running an excellent 2nd leg in a 1:46.58 split.  Ryan Foster anchoring got the baton just off the lead in 3rd place behind Virginia and Oregon. The anchor leg turned out to be a repeat finish of the Indoor NCAA 800 final as Andrews of Virginia out sprinted Wheating of Oregon with Foster in a strong 3rd place finish for PSU. (Virginia and Oregon passing PSU in the last 100 meters = The Bad)

The 1985 4x800 record lives on through the Silver Anniversary.  It's kind of like a fine wine, it gets better and better with age. (Remember to turn the bottle 1/4 turn every few months and keep the temperature cool!)

Signed,

The Un-Official Correspondent