1999 Penn Relays continue tradition of excellence

Arkansas, Texas relay teams shine Everyone knew Arkansas had a good men's distance team; the Razorbacks had captured a combined 25 of the last 32 titles in the distance medley and 4xMile races at the Penn Relays. But last weekend at Franklin Field, Arkansas entrenched itself among the best ever. The Razorbacks not only won the DM and 4xMile, but also became the first Arkansas team to ever win the 4x800 meter event at the Penn Relays. And, for good measure, the Razorbacks set a collegiate record with their time of 16:07.96 in the four-mile relay. Arkansas coach John McDonald used a total of seven runners in the three events, but there was one constant in all the races -- Seneca Lassiter as the anchor. Lassiter -- who was named Outstanding Collegiate Men's Relay Athlete for his efforts -- shined brightest with a 3:55.6 split in the record-breaking 4xMile relay. "I was looking at the clock when I was coming down and I was just thinking about the record," Lassiter said. "That's all that was on my mind? I knew when I got the baton that I would have to run a 3:55 to do it." Although the Hogs kept the crowd buzzing with their dominance, the three-day Penn Relay Carnival was chock full of other collegiate races -- including the more-exciting-than-expected women's 4x400 relay. Texas had won the event four straight years, and was expected to run away with the title again. But when anchor Suziann Reid received the baton, she found herself 25 meters behind South Carolina's Eleakisha Williamson. Reid's scintillating anchor leg of 50.8 seconds, however, did give the Longhorns their fifth consecutive title and earned her the honor of Outstanding Collegiate Women's Relay Athlete at the Relays. "It feels great to win here at Penn," Reid said. "It was nice to be able to win here in my last year. I felt I ran well [coming from so far behind]." The Longhorns' women also won another sprint relay -- the 4x100 -- in a Penn Relays record time of 43.33, besting LSU's time of 43.42 from last year. "We came here hoping to [break a record]," leadoff leg Kim McGruder said. "We knew if we came in ready to compete, we knew we were capable of breaking a record." Unlike the the men's events, three different schools won watches in the women's distance relays. The most hotly contested of these races was the DM. Since 1991, only one team had run under 11 minutes in this event, but three squads were under that barrier this year. Tulane anchor Hanne Lyngstad took the baton in sixth place, but ran a 4:30.3 1600 meters to lead the Green Wave to a first-place finish. In the men's 4x400 -- the final event of the relays -- Mississippi was the victor in a time of 3:05.19. Rebels anchor Alonzo Banks had to hold off Auburn's Avoro Moncur -- who ran a 44.7 split -- to win by a mere 4/100ths of a second. "I had people in the stands saying that Old Miss could not win and we were sleepers," Mississippi's third leg, Savante Stringfellow, said. "That motivated us, especially me, to prove them wrong." Other highlights of the collegiate relays included the men's 4x100 and 4x200 races. In both races, four teams were within a half-second of each other at the line. Clemson's Shawn Crawford edged out Florida's Daymon Carroll in the 4x100 to win in 39.48. "When I got the baton all I could hear was coach drilling us in practice," Crawford said. "I thought to myself, 'I can't let him down. I can't let my team down. I can't let Clemson down.' And that just gave me the extra push to pull ahead." Less than 90 minutes later, Florida avenged its second-place finish in the 4x100 with a victory in the 4x200. "We were all so mad about the 4x100," Florida's second leg, John Capel, said. "We lost by the length of a guy, and it was our second worst time of the year. So this time, we knew we had to win to redeem ourselves. We weren't going to lose this one."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.