The members of the Penn men's track team's 4x400 meter relay came into the final event needing to run their fastest time of the season if they wanted to capture the Heptagonal Championship on May 12.
No problem.
Both Penn and Princeton headed into the final relay with 121 points. After the Tigers ran a 3:11.73 in the unseeded heat -- their fastest time of the season by about five seconds -- the Quakers ran a blistering 3:10.37 in the seeded heat, capturing their second-straight Heps crown, 131-129.
In the process, the team -- juniors Brian Abram and Sam Burley and sophomores Chris Edmonds and Luqman Kolade -- set a meet record, breaking Navy's 10-year old mark by .08 seconds.
"We knew it was going to be a close meet. I wasn't expecting it to come down to that," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "I had confidence they could do it."
The dramatic finish capped a stellar day for the Quakers, who overcame some world-class performances by the Tigers -- and turned in a couple of their own -- to win Heps, which consists of the eight Ivy League teams and Navy.
Burley led the way for the Quakers that day, coming back from last place in the bell lap of the 1500 to win with a time of 3:51.38. He then finished second in the 800 meters with a 1:50.29, a little over a second behind Princeton's Ryan Smith.
Tuan Wreh capped off a phenomenal Ivy League career, winning both the triple and the long jumps. His 24'05.75" leap in the long bested the field by over three inches, while his 53'05.00" leap in the triple jump was not only almost five whole feet better than the runner-up, Sean Thomas of Brown, but also broke a 25-year old Heps record.
Sophomore Brian Chaput continued to dominate this season winning the javelin with a 235'09" mark, qualifying him for NCAA Championships.
Burley (800m) and Wreh (triple jump) will also compete at NCAAs. Burley was an All-American last outdoor season and again this indoor season, when he took seventh in the 800m.
But when asked who had the outstanding performances on that day, Coach Powell could not name just one person.
"About 36 guys [had great days]," he said. "We did about everything we could have. We did some awesome things."
Indeed, the Quakers came through in almost every event. Gene Sun finished second in the 100 in 10.63 seconds, only second to Harvard's Christopher Lambert, who ran a blistering 10.19.
Lambert's 100m wasn't the only amazing performance. In the high jump, Princeton's Tora Harris broke his own Heps record with a height of 7'07" -- the best overall in United States and second-best in the world so far this year.
Abram pulled off a nice double, finishing seventh in the 200 and third in the 400. Neal Wojdowski was second in the pole vault. And the Quakers went 1-2-4 in the 110 hurdles, as Matt Wedge's 14.33 edged teammate O'Neil Bryan's 14.38. Jared Shoemaker was fourth in 14.51.
"It wasn't just one or two things," Powell said. "It was a complete team effort, and a great win."
Last weekend, several members of the Quakers competed at IC4A Championships, and the Red and Blue had three top-10 finishes. Chaput took first in the javelin with a distance of 71.76 meters.
"I kind of expected it from a guy who's one of the top guys in the country," Powell said. "He goes out and proves it -- day in and day out.
"He's an outstanding talent" Powell added.
Wreh took second in the triple jump with a distance of 51'08.25", while Bryan was seventh in the 110 hurdles with a 14.62. Those three performances put the Quakers in 10th place overall. Princeton was sixth at the meet.
The Quakers have the weekend off before Burley, Chaput and Wreh head to NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., on May 29.
