The Penn Relays LIVE!

• TWEET
• SHARE
• SHARE

3:45 p.m.: The best way to get the Jamaican fans at Franklin Field up and on their feet is to announce that Holmwood Tech is in a race. This time, it's the girls' high school 4x400m relay, and the public address anonouncer described this heat as "one of the first really fast races of the day."

Heading into the third lap, it's a duel between Holmwood and Eleanor Roosevelt from Greenbelt, Maryland, but Holmwood's Schillone Calvert broke it open and now has a huge lead heading into the home stretch. As anchor Sanita Sutherland heads for the finish, all the Jamaican fans are up, and she's going to set the best time of the day by a good 15 seconds -- 3:36.09, with a 52.50 second final lap. That's the third-best high school girls 4x400 time in Penn Relays history, and the fastest ever in a heat race.

2:58 p.m.: There's one glaring omission from the long list of high school teams at this year's Relays: Long Beach Poly. The California powerhouse has become as well-known at Franklin Field for its success on the track as for the signature high socks the school's runners wear.

Penn Relays Carnival Executive Director Dave Johnson told me that Long Beach Poly "never entered." Which strikes me as odd, but maybe they finally ran out of money for the cross-country trip.

1:24 p.m.: Penn's 4x100 team didn't do well at all, finishing last in its heat with a time of 48.88 seconds. Miami of Florida won the heat, which is not surprising; other teams in the heat included Pittsburgh, Georgia State, Indiana, Kent State, Slippery Rock, Yale and Army.

Sophomore Jesse Carlin pulled no punches about the performance, admitting bluntly that "every handoff got messed up." She added that her team's finish was a good two seconds off its normal time. Carlin ran the anchor leg, following Brittany Middlebrook, Shaunee Morgan and Jessica Ehrlich.

Jeff Shafer notes that Penn overall finish of 58th was worse than Princeton, Columbia and the Elis, and that the time would not have qualified for the high school girls Championship of America. It was 7/100ths of a second and one place better than Big 5 rival Temple, though

12:22 p.m.: There hasn't been an update for a while because the high school girls' 4x100m relay has been going on for quite a while now. There will be more to come soon, though, when we move to the college women's 4x100. For now, I'll note that Girls High -- the alma mater of former Penn president Judith Rodin -- won its heat in 49.81 seconds, though some of the other Philadelphia schools that have run so far have not done as well. Girls was the only city school in the Large Schools competition to win a heat.

And in a result for all the New Yorkers out there, John F. Kennedy High School (albeit from Silver Spring, Md.) beat LaGuardia of New York City in a heat, though neither won the heat. John F. Kennedy of the Bronx ran in the next heat and finished seventh.

There is a Liberty High, but it's from Bethlehem, Pa., not Newark, N.J.

10:57 a.m.: The full results from the college women's 400m hurdles have finally come through, and there are two Penn times to note: Dana McCurdy finished second in her heat in 1:00.05 (beat by a Penn State runner, sadly), which was 22nd overall; and Carolyn Auwaerter finished last in the final heat with a time of 1:03.06, which was an even 50th overall.

My Buzz colleagues Jeff Shafer and Zachary Levine have joined me on press row, as has DP track writer Sebastien Angel. They'll be checking in with their own anecdotes as well.

And finally, I'm glad to report that the crowd so far is pretty big for a Thursday morning. The consensus is 12-15,000 fans at the moment, and growing, of course.

10:13 a.m: In the high school girls' 400m hurdles, Sherene Pinnock, the Jamaican national champion, set a new Penn Relays record with a time of 56.90 seconds. Crystal Kantey, the Nike Outdoor national champion from Winslow, N.J., was second to Pinnock in their heat in 1:00.05.

In the next heat, Nicole Saunders beat Kantey's time, winning the heat in 59.65 seconds.

9:54 a.m.: Good morning from trackside at Franklin Field, where the weather is absolutely gorgeous. Today's races are already underway -- a few minutes early, in fact, as they were supposed to start at 10 a.m. As I type, the women's 400-meter hurdles heats are going on. Dominique Darden of the University of Miami won the first race of the day with a time of 55.60 seconds.

We'll be bringing you live coverage of all three days of the Relays here at the Buzz, so keep checking back for updates on all the big races. Of course, we'll pay special attention to Penn's teams, and we'll be interviewing coaches and athletes as soon as their events are over.

Having said all that, the best way to experience the Relays is to come down to Franklin Field yourself. It's free for Penn students today and tomorrow, and Saturday's USA vs. the World is worth spending money to see. So to all you sunbathers on College Green and out by the high rises, bring your blankets and books down to 33rd Street for a few days instead.

I'll be back later with more updates.