For the Penn women's track and field team, this year's Penn Relays were all about the record books.
Having qualified for Friday's ECAC final with its best finish of the season Thursday, the 4x100-meter relay team topped that in the final with its time of 46.74. The foursome, freshmen Renee McDougall, Paige Madison and Leah Brown and sophomore Kali Strother, finished seventh and broke the 47-second mark for only the fourth time in school history. They are now third in Penn's all-time record book.
The 4x200-meter relay team also made history, finishing seventh in its heat with a time of 1:39.24, second-best all time for Penn.
Two school records in the 4x1500-meter relay and the sprint medley relay highlighted Penn's overall success Friday.
In the 4x1500 Championship of America race, junior Anna Aagenes, seniors Kinjal Parikh and Leah Brogan and freshman Laura Steel finished fifth at 18:11.87, knocking more than two seconds off Penn's previous school record. Coach Gwen Harris was overcome with shock and excitement at the accomplishment.
"I looked down at my watch and saw that Anna was going 4:24, and I go, 'oh that's pretty fast.' That's a huge [personal record] for her," Harris said. "She's never run that fast for a 1500 ever. . I was so excited."
For Brogan, a distance runner who had never raced the 4x1500 before, it was an amazing experience in her final Penn Relays.
"I finished and looked at my coach and I was like 'that was a lot of fun,'" she said. "I just loved every moment of it. . I'm so happy I got to be a part of a relay."
In the other record-setting relay, the sprint medley foursome won their Championship of America heat, finishing sixth overall. Brown led off for the Quakers, running 200 meters. Strother followed, running the same distance, and then handed off to Madison, who completed 400 meters. Aagenes, the anchor, became a part of her second school record that day with her finish.
The Quakers also found success on the field both Thursday and Friday thanks to three seniors. Whitney Tagliavini placed sixth in the long jump Thursday, with her best jump measuring 5.84 meters. Camille Richard almost took the Penn Relays title in the triple jump Friday, finishing second with her best jump of the outdoor season, 12.04 meters. Deanna Morelli's sixth-place finish in the javelin (41.73 meters) coincidentally also placed her sixth in Penn history.
Saturday, Penn ended the 2009 Penn Relays on a high note with two more successful relays.
The 1600-meter relay team posted a season-best performance, coming in sixth place with a time of 3:43.48. Juniors Jamie Massarelli, Kelly Allred and Laura McDaniel and freshman Victoria Strickland entered Penn's all-time record book with their finish, turning in the program's fourth-fastest time (3:43.48).
The Quakers almost broke nine minutes in the 3200-meter relay, finishing in 9:04.50. Parikh, Brogan, junior Kimberly Shooshan and freshman Allie Tetreault placed 12th out of 29 squads.
The Red and Blue will now look to carry their momentum on to Heptagonal Championships, which will take place May 9 and 10 at Franklin Field.
"I'm hoping that we can keep it going all the way through," Harris said. "I'm looking forward to it."
- Senior staff writer Krista Hutz contributed reporting to this article.
Related StoriesPhoto Slideshow | Penn Relays - SportsThere's no 'eye' in dash at Penn Relays - SportsPutting the Penn in Penn Relays - Sports
