Virginia Heads To Prestigious Penn Relays For Three-Day Competition

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia track and field team will head to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the 116th running of the Penn Relays – the world’s largest and oldest relay carnival. The meet will take place at historic Franklin Field and will run Thursday through Saturday. Live results and video can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

At last year’s carnival, senior All-American Meghan Briggs used a personal-best throw of 172’ 9” to win the championship section of the javelin and become the first female Cavalier to win a field event since Ann Crouse won the javelin in 1999.

Various other Cavaliers will join Briggs in competing in the three-day event that showcases the best athletes in the world. Virginia will field a men’s and women’s distance medley relay and dual 4x800m relays. In addition, multiple Cavaliers will participate in field event competition.

Last year at this event, the Cavaliers won three Championship of America titles, including sweeping the discus. Former All-Americans Yemi Ayeni and Caitlin Kelly won their respective discus titles, while Briggs won the javelin.

In addition to collegiate competition, the best high school and professional athletes – highlighted by three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt – will also vie for Penn Relays titles.

Following this weekend, Virginia will send runners to Stanford on Saturday, May 1, as the Cavaliers continue to work to obtain marks that will qualify them for regional competition. The NCAA East Regional is scheduled for May 28-29 at Greensboro, N.C.