When it was over, Penn women's track coach Gwen Harris lay flat on her back on the Franklin Field turf, arms outstretched in celebration. She did so with good reason, having just witnessed something that no member of the Quakers' women's track team had seen since 1992.
For the first time in 13 years, Penn had won a relay medal at the Penn Relays. It came thanks to the red-hot Quakers' 4x400-meter women's team, which won the Heptagonal Relay -- comprised of every Ivy League team except Dartmouth -- in a Heps record time of 3:42.62. Penn will race in the ECAC Championship relay on Saturday afternoon, and is the first alternate should any of the eight teams in the Championship of America relay pull out.
"Oh my God," Harris said, after she got up and received congratulations from many members of the Penn Athletic Department staff. "This is awesome, this is awesome."
Penn's victory required all four of its runners to fend off a spirited effort by Cornell, which took the lead at one point in the third leg but ended up finishing second with a time of 3:43.22.
"The girls really stepped up and did a good job," Harris said. "They had to fight for this one."
The Quakers were anchored by senior Izu Emeagwali, who ran the final leg in 55.2 seconds. During that time, public address announcer Ron Lopresti advised the crowd that "if you want to cheer for the home team, go ahead."
"It was nice at the end," Harris said.
Emeagwali, on the other hand, was focused on other things besides the crowd as she raced for the finish line.
"I didn't hear it, but it definitely means a lot to have people cheering for Penn," she said.
Other results: The Penn women's 4x100m relay team finished fifth in its heat with a time of 46.67 seconds, good enough for a spot in the ECAC championship on Saturday afternoon. In the women's Distance Medley Relay, the Quakers came in 11th in their heat, with a time of 11:37.23 -- one spot and one-tenth of a second behind Princeton.
