The heart and soul of the Penn Relays is not captured by the hundreds of cameramen that surround Franklin Field's historic track.
When Saturday, the final day of Relays competition, rolls around, the majority of the weekend's runners have already cooled down, packed up their bags and headed back home.
The press funnels in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the world's great runners.
However, what they don't realize is without all of those unheralded stars, without all of the endless high school heats, the Penn Relays would not be where it is today.
This year, over 800 high schools will send their top athletes to compete in the biggest track meet in the world other than the Olympics.
The majority of high school track and field athletes have never competed in front of large crowd. And so, for these young and budding competitors, the Penn Relays is their first, and sometimes only, chance to show off for group of people other than their parents and their coaches.
At the 108th running of the Penn Relays, the quality of competition at the high school level is once again impressive.
In addition to a slew of talented American high schools -- representing 18 states and the District of Columbia -- there will also be a foreign flair to the high school relays.
Athletes will travel from all over the world, including the Bahamas, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the Virgin Islands.
This year, a record number 29 Jamaican high school teams are scheduled to participate.
Because the Jamaican school system operates on a different schedule, many of the athletes from the Caribbean are two or three years older than their American counterparts.
Tim Hickey, the Penn Relays High School Girls subcommittee chair and girls' track coach at Philadelphia's William Penn High School, cited the age difference as the principle advantage that Jamaican squads have over American teams.
"We're running against older people, so the playing field is not level," Hickey said. "They are, on average, two to three years older than our athletes. They're all 18 or 19 years old."
Holmwood Tech, from Manchester, Jamaica, will look to repeat its 4x100-meter relay victory. Already this season, the squad has posted impressive times. In the Jamaican championships, Holmwood Tech placed first with a time of 45.70.
The only American teams with a chance of keeping up are A. Philip Randolph of New York City and Robeson of Brooklyn. Earlier this month at the King Relays, Robeson ran a strong 47.50 -- still a full two seconds behind Holmwood Tech.
"Jamaica is going to have two or three superstar groups here," Hickey said. "The top teams are going to be the Jamaican teams."
In the 4x400 last year, Holmwood Tech posted a new meet record, with a time of 3:34.75. Holmwood returns two out of the four members of the record-breaking squad, but will be challenge by fellow Jamaican squads, Vere Tech and St. Jago.
Randolph, Boys & Girls of Brooklyn, Eleanor Washington of D.C. and William Penn of Philadelphia will no doubt attempt to dethrone the Jamaicans.
"They were the top four American teams last year and the year before," Hickey said.
Although the 4x800 will most likely be dominated by four-time defending champion Holmwood Tech the Americans have a decent chance of winning the Distance Medley Relay, which Boys & Girls claimed last year.
On the boys' side, Camden (N.J.) will look to defend the 4x400 Relay crown. Camden will be challenged by California's Taft High School.
In the 4x100, eyes will be on the Carribean squads. Although Camden, Trenton Central (N.J.) and Deep Creek(Va.) have posted solid times thus far this season, the Jamaicans maintain a commanding advantage.
Vere Tech won the Jamaican boys Class I title last weekend and set a meet record with a time of 40.46. Defending Relays champions El Dorado (Trinidad) boast two top runners who competed with the national team that claimed a bronze medal at last year's World Championships.
Holmwood Tech enters the boys' 4x800 with high hopes, but will most likely be challenged by Notre Dame of N.J. and Midwood of Brooklyn
The Distance Medley Relay favorite is Haddonfield Memorial of N.J.
The USA versus the World spirit of the Penn Relays will undoubtedly trickle down to the high school events, fueling a rivalry that will continue on for years.
In just a few short years, many of the standout high school athletes may be the weekend's superstars. They may be teenagers now, but they also may be the famous Saturday runners of the future.
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