For some athletes, The Penn Relay Carnival is a stage they’ve dreamed about for years. For others, it’ssomething they don’t fully experience until they step into it. But no matter how they arrive, competing hits them with a wave of emotion.
Every race is different. Joy, perseverance, energy, exhilaration: Each athlete’s path to this stage shapes their mindset. The scale of Penn Relays — the crowd, the history, the anticipation — intensifies whatever emotion athletes carry with them.
Joy
For junior sprinter/hurdler Ryan Matulonis, the Penn Relays are not just a college meet. Even before committing to Penn, he had already experienced the magic of Franklin Field, competing at the Penn Relays in high school. Now, stepping onto the same track in a Penn uniform, his feeling at the event has only grown.
“I think it was an amazing experience. It was so cool,” Matulonis said, reflecting on his first time competing at the competition as a high school athlete. “And then to be able to do it now is just even cooler.”
This sense of excitement is not just nostalgia, but one that actively shapes how he competes. Matulonis described the Penn Relays as an environment that elevates performance and where the energy of the crowd pushes athletes beyond what they might expect of themselves.
For him and his teammates, this energy usually translates into tangible success.
“Every year, we always break the school record at Penn Relays,” he said. “It just goes to show how the environment allows us to rise to the occasion. … I think it’s just the excitement that allows it to happen.”
But what stands out most for Matulonis isn’t the times or placement — it’s the people. In a sport that is often individual, running the 4x400-meter relay offers a rare shared experience. That, more than anything else, is what defines his connection to his team.
“Penn track, especially [the Penn] Relays, has allowed me to meet some of my best friends,” he said. “I value being able to run with my best friends. You support them, they support you, and you help make each other better. That’s the beauty of [the Penn Relays]. You’re running as a team.”
Even amid the intensity of competition, joy is central. The Penn Relays bring a unique blend of fun and pressure, something Matulonis embraces rather than resists.
Years from now, he doesn’t expect to remember the races themselves, but rather, the feeling of being with his teammates in the atmosphere that makes this meet unique.
“There’s no meet like it. It’s insane,” Matulonis said. “I think what I’ll remember most is the unparalleled energy and being able to run with my teammates.”
Perseverance
For sophomore high jumper Zofia Limbert, the path to the Penn Relays is rooted in steady growth and consistency. Her journey in the event started modestly, jumping over self-made obstacles in her backyard as a child.
Unlike other track and field athletes, Limbert didn’t grow up dreaming about the Penn Relays — she had never even heard of it.
“When my coach first told me about it, I didn’t believe him,” she said. “But then I got here and competed, and it was insane. … It’s just so big.”
An unexpectedly huge stage now feels motivating. Limbert sees the Penn Relays as an opportunity to compete on one of track and field’s biggest stages while representing her team, something larger than herself.
“The whole representing Penn part is probably the biggest,” Limbert said. “You feel the adrenaline much more, and that excitement allows you to perform better.”
However, during Limbert's freshman year, an injury disrupted her progress, forcing her to rebuild her season from the ground up. Instead of derailing her mindset, that setback shaped how Limbert approaches the sport.
“Last year, I learned that genuinely anything can happen,” she said. “I got injured, so I wasn’t able to compete or progress. But then [during] outdoor, everything started coming together.”
This mindset, focused on steady improvement, has become central to how she defines success. Rather than fixating on specific heights or placements at each meet, Limbert emphasizes incremental growth. Her goals for the Penn Relays are no different.
“I don’t particularly set myself big goals,” she said. “I just try to improve every meet, work on one technical aspect, and it’ll come together eventually.”
Her approach is rooted in perseverance. Limbert learned firsthand that setbacks are not exceptions in athletics; they are part of the process.
“You get injured, and it blocks you from performing, but it happens to everyone,” she said. “You can’t stay stuck on it. You will get better eventually, and from there, you genuinely get better.”
Now, with her first Penn Relays experience behind her and an Ivy League high jump title under her belt, Limbert enters this year’s events with a different kind of determination. Surrounded by elite competition, she sees the moment as something not to be feared, but rather something she has earned.
“It’s just the whole energy,” she said. “You have your friends, your family … and that makes it special.”
Energy
When senior distance runner Lily Murphy thinks about the Penn Relays, she thinks of energy: “The energy surrounding the meet, the energy on the oval, the energy in the infield, the energy of the spectators.”
Murphy didn’t grow up running. She played lacrosse and field hockey through high school, switching to distance running only as a senior. But now at Penn, she has built herself up to be an Ivy League title-winning distance runner. This past indoor season, as part of Penn’s distance medley relay, she earned Second Team All-Ivy honors.
As a senior, Murphy is preparing to race in the Penn Relays for the final time, where she’ll compete in the 10K. Last year, she ran the same event, a race she still remembers distinctly.
“I think last year, my race [was] around, 10, 10:30 pm, but you’re wide awake. You’re wired because we’re in the dark, under the lights, spectators everywhere,” she said.
For Murphy, this level of energy is what sets the Relays apart from every other track meet.
“You can feel it just from even stepping down in the radius of Franklin Field. Walking along 33rd, 34th Street ... you can tell how passionate these people are about track and field.”
It’s that passion that pushes her to give it her all, surrounded by the electric atmosphere where Franklin Field is filled with thousands of people.
“I just really enjoy the rambunctious and loud, energetic atmosphere of it. It kind of makes you run on adrenaline, that’s for sure,” Murphy added.
Exhilaration
For senior multi-event athlete Jake Rose, the Penn Relays embodies exhilaration.
“That moment really puts you in front of a huge stage, and you get to run in front of a Franklin Field, almost full to the brim,” Rose said.
While he generally specializes in the heptathlon and decathlon, the Catawissa, Pa., native will be competing in the 110-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays. Running such a quick race in front of a big crowd doesn’t pressure him. Rather, he uses the atmosphere to his advantage.
“I try to get as hyped-up as possible, so then, when the gun goes off, I can react super fast and kind of get that first step,” Rose said.
As a senior, it’s his final Penn Relays after three years of competing and spectating.
His first experience as a freshman is still vivid in his mind.
“It was a downpour. It was crazy. I can still remember every second of the race. It was just pouring rain at the start line. We were sitting under a tent, and then we finally got to run.”
This year, Rose’s goal is to give his best and represent the Red and Blue one last time during Penn’s biggest meet.
“If I could really make a hurdle final and be against some of the best runners in the country at that level, I think I’d be very, very happy,” Rose said. “I guess it’s just excitement, pure excitement, to go out there and finally give one last hurrah at the Penn Relays.”
