Top track and field athletes are finalizing their travel plans while perfecting their baton handoffs. Coaches are evaluating the depth of the field while psyching up their athletes. Despite coming to Philadelphia from across the country — or even across the world — all these competitors have the same final destination: Franklin Field.
The annual Penn Relay Carnival is upon us.
Penn’s campus will be flooded with an unusual array of spikes and gel packs at the end of April as visitors from near and far ogle Locust Walk. For three days, the Quakers will compete against some of the best collegiate athletes in the country, including nearby rivals Villanova and Princeton. However, college athletes are not the city’s only representation. Some of the best high school athletes from Southeastern Pennsylvania will also be showcasing their skills on Benjamin Franklin’s oval.
Some of these schools have been local staples for years. La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, Pa. is steeped in Penn Relays tradition, as the Catholic private school has enjoyed considerable success in University City. In 2013, the Explorers earned a distance medley relay victory in the Championship of America field. A few years later, in 2016, the team set a school record in the Large School Championship.
This year, the Explorers are set to be highly competitive in distance races. La Salle distance runner Bobby Franklin is fresh off a first-place victory at the PTFCA Indoor State Championship in the boys’ mile run, clocking a time of 4:16.67. As a Northeast Philadelphia native, Franklin has looked forward to competing at Penn Relays since the beginning of his high school athletic career. Before that, he excelled as a middle school runner, competing in Catholic Youth Organization and club AAU races.
“At La Salle, we take the Penn Relays very seriously,” Franklin said. “It sometimes can be an especially difficult event because we compete at New Balance Nationals or other indoor season meets right before the relays … We have a picture in our trophy room from the last time we won the Penn Relays, with the rest of our track and field memories. It’d be an honor to be able to relive that picture and carry on the Explorer legacy.”
Franklin will run the mile again at Penn Relays, this time in the Championship of America distance medley relay. Last year, the Explorers took 11th in the event. La Salle will also face steep competition from local rivals North Penn High School and Mifflin County High School in the DMR.
“There is so much energy in that stadium,” Franklin said. “It’s just so much more intense than the average high school race, and the adrenaline you get lining up is unmatched. It’s an honor to race at Franklin Field and to have a local crowd come to Penn to watch us race. There are a lot of college coaches there watching, which makes it a great opportunity for us to showcase our skills.”
Episcopal Academy, another local track and field powerhouse, also competed in the Championship of America DMR last year. Located in Newtown Square, Pa., about a 40-minute drive from Penn’s campus, Episcopal will look to repeat its success from last year’s relays. The Churchmen placed third and will field a similar team as last year’s bronze medalists.
Episcopal sprinter Abaas Hunter is a crucial part of that team. The North Carolina track and field commit will run in his last Penn Relays on the back of a first-place victory at the PTFCA Indoor State Championship in the boys’ 200-meter and 400-meter races. The Upper Darby, Pa. native grew up as a two-sport athlete, splitting his time between football and track. At Episcopal, he honed in on being the fastest version of himself. This year’s Penn Relays is a great opportunity to have more memorable performances in multiple races.
“One of my goals for my senior year is to win the Inter-Ac 4x400 title,” Hunter said. “This is our own small section where we race a few close rivals, and we didn’t win it last year. We’ve been very successful in it historically, so we want to reclaim that title from the Haverford School. Being at Penn Relays and having a big crowd with everybody cheering is really exciting.”
Episcopal’s track and field roster is filled with talent this year. One of Hunter’s teammates in last year’s Championship of America DMR and Inter-Academic League 4x400m relay, Episcopal middle-distance runner Kaleb Young, placed fourth in the boys’ 800m race at this year’s indoor state championships. The two will look to reclaim the Philadelphia Inter-Academic League title and potentially compete in the 2026 Championship of America DMR.
The Churchmen also have some powerhouse women runners with middle-distance runners Ava Cavanaugh and Kendra Williamson earning second and first-place finishes in their 800m and 3000m state championship races, respectively.
Hailing from North Philadelphia, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School also looks to make noise at this year’s Penn Relays. Also known simply as “the Prep,” the all-boys school boasts a top-tier track program, with multiple PTFCA Indoor State Championship titles and a history of producing elite runners.
For a select few of the Prep’s top runners, the Penn Relays offers a rare chance to compete on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
“They’re excited,” Curtis Cockenberg, the 2020 Pennsylvania Coach of the Year, said. “You’re running in front of such a large crowd. I mean, I don’t think a kid will ever run or participate in front of a crowd anywhere from 20, 30, or even 40,000 people.”
Cockenberg, affectionately known as “Coach Curt,” has coached every record-setter on the Prep cross country and track program record board. It’s safe to say he’s had a “generational impact” since starting at Prep during the 1970s. Even after 50 years of coaching, the Penn Relays still stands as one of the most special track and field events for Cockenberg.
“It’s one of the largest meets around. You have schools coming from so many different areas, from outside of the intermediate area,” Cockenberg said. “The fact that you have schools coming from outside the country … it’s incredible.”
This year, the Prep will participate in the 4x100m, 4x400m, and two 4x800m events over the span of two days.
In a track and field event known for its massive size, the Prep will compete among the best in Philadelphia. But beyond the results, Cockenberg is excited for his team to have the “experience of running off a crowd.”
“The size of the crowd is the key part,” he said. “The biggest [takeaway] is getting the chance to run in front of so many people.”
