The 16-year wait has finally come to an end. An individual on the Penn men's track team regained a spot atop the Penn Relays podium.
Randy Cox was the last Penn athlete to accomplish the feat, winning the 1987 400m hurdles in 49.7. To find a Penn victory in a field event, one has to go back even farther. Not since 1961 when Bob Batdorf earned first place in the discus have the Quakers won a field event at the Relays.
And to find a Penn gold medal in the javelin, one must delve even deeper into the history books. The last person to do it was George Bronder in 1922.
Now, 81 years later, Penn junior Brian Chaput is basking in Penn Relays glory after grabbing first place in the javelin Saturday with a throw of 227 feet-- which did not equal his school record and personal best of 242-feet, nine inches set in the opening meet of the spring season.
"It's just an honor to win such a big meet," Chaput said. "It wasn't one of my better performances of the year, but a win is a win."
In addition to "really wanting to win," Chaput attributes much of his success last weekend to the Penn coaching staff, particularly assistant coach and former Penn javelin record holder John Taylor.
"It's a testament to our coaching staff and our program in general," Chaput said. "The team is very talented. It's just a stepping stone."
Taylor has taught his apprentice well. After helping Chaput break his own record in the javelin, Taylor finally saw a dream of his materialize. After several frustrating second and third place finishes during his tenure at Penn, Taylor ultimately fulfilled his dream from the coaching end.
"He had finished second in Penn Relays three or four times in college, so he was really happy to win it," the new Penn Relays gold medalist said. "[He] has been huge. He's helped me out a ton. I attribute a lot of my success to him."
Saturday's javelin competition was also a good preview of next weekend's Heptagonal Championships, when Chaput will again square off with Penn Relays silver medalist Scott Benowicz of Cornell.
"I'm looking to win Heps again, and I think it's definitely achievable," Chaput said.
Chaput will not be the only Penn field athlete contending for first place next weekend. Junior Adam Chubb, in only his third competition of the season, earned second place in the high jump. Chubb could not hold off Huguens Jean of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, but his jump of 7.00'.50" -- two inches shy of his personal best -- makes him the outright favorite to win the event at Heps.
Chasing Chubb will be Princeton's Mike Weishuhn, who jumped 6'8.25" this weekend.
In other Penn Relays action, the Championship of America 4x800m relay did not live up to its high billing. In what was supposed to be the highlight of the weekend for the Quakers, the Sam Burley-led relay stumbled to a 10th place finish in 7:30.59, over 14 seconds behind winner Arkansas.
However, Penn had an auspicious showing in the 4x400m relay -- an event which will surely be pivotal in next weekend's battle. Running in the Heptagonal division, the relay -- consisting of Brian Abram, Chris Edmonds, Luqman Kolade and Burley --bolted to first place in 3.11.97, outlasting second-place Cornell by over two seconds.
Penn has worked hard all season in hope of repeating at Heps. "The drive on our team is just contagious," Chaput said. "You watch your teammates working hard every day and every week, and it makes you want to work harder yourself. Every Penn track and field athlete works hard."
With many outstanding performances at Penn Relays that have "set [Penn] up nicely for Heps," the Quakers appear posed to vie for a third-consecutive Heps Championship next weekend. But as underdog yet again, Penn knows it will not be easy. Then again, it never is.
"It's going to be a big weekend for us," Chaput said. "Winning Heps is one of the most important things."
