Penn Relays off and running

For many members of the Penn track and field team, Franklin Field was an unfamiliar place last night -- the opening night of the Penn Relays.

"It doesn't even feel like Franklin Field anymore," Penn freshman Breton Bonnette said. "The whole place transforms."

But Penn sophomore Nolan Tully, undaunted by the stadium's metamorphosis, apparently felt right at home.

Once the gun sounded in the 3,000-meter college men's steeplechase championship, it was clear that the crowd's vocal support of Tully would not wane.

As the sophomore finished his second lap, poised to surmount the water hurdle, a chant broke out in the northeast corner of the stadium: "Tully! Tully! Tully!"

The home-field advantage helped propel him to a personal best of 8:58 and tenth overall -- breaking the regional qualifying time of 9:12 by 14 seconds and fulfilling his goal of breaking nine minutes, which he has been pursuing all season.

Running in front of the home crowd "helped a lot," he said. "A lot of my teammates and my family were here. It was good to run in front of everybody."

Despite his satisfaction with the breakout race, Tully feels that he could have run even faster.

"I felt comfortable the whole way," he said after the race. "I still have a whole lot left in my legs. I think my hurdling could have improved. I don't feel it's my best, but it was a very good race."

If Tully has "five or maybe even 10 seconds," as he said he might, left in him this season, he could emerge as one of the Quakers' best athletes.

Tully's Penn Relays race represents the final stage in the maturing process of Penn's young, sophomore-led distance contingent.

The emergence of Tully and Stephen Hayes has helped to offset an injury to cross country All-American Dusty Lieb -- an injury that will sophomore, who was recently named to the U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team, from competing in one of the most important weekends of the spring season.

"I'm excited about [Heptagonal Championships]," Tully said. "I think I have a chance to win."

Tully's race this weekend signifies a trend in Charlie Powell-coached teams. Powell's systematic training regimen is designed to produce peak performances in the most important meets at the end of the year.

As a result, Penn has performed better in the final meets of the season, evidenced by its late emergence during the past two seasons -- seasons in which Penn has scored upset victories at Heps. Tully, after tapering down, this week, has clearly reaped the benefits of his coaching.

"Under nine minutes is great for a college runner," senior Brian Abram said. "He had a lot left. Hopefully, he'll run that a couple of times and realize he has a lot more to give and can get under 8:50."

Though Tully could not muster the strength to catch winner Mate Nemeth of Memphis his performance bodes well for the Quakers' chances at Heps.

In other action yesterday, North Carolina outlasted Arkansas in the women's distance medley championship relay with a blistering time of 10:56.67. Villanova and Tennessee followed, taking third and fourth places.

In the college women's heptagonal 4x400m relay, Penn could not upend Cornell, finishing five seconds behind the Big Red in 3:48.73 to earn second place.

The Quakers also competed in the women's 400m hurdles where Michelle Hart finished 40th in 63.72 and Crystal Marsh 47th in 65.14.

The qualifying round of the college women's 4x400m saw many impressive performances. It appears that Texas and South Carolina -- who claimed the Penn Relays record in 2001 and the national record last year -- will battle in what has the potential to be an epic duel tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

Among high school girls competitors, Long Beach Poly of California showcased its elite talent. The school began the day with a time of 9:09 in its victory in the 4x800m. Later in the day, the California natives sprinted to the fastest 4x100m time of 46.23.

And that was just the first day. With the "USA v. the World" events on the schedule tomorrow, the Penn Relays promise to only get more exciting.

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