Why do tens of thousands of spectators from around the world pour in to watch thousands of high school, collegiate, and professional athletes face off at Franklin Field year after year?
Although an annual pilgrimage to Philadelphia has become a tradition among Jamaican high school teams and their supporters, local runners and spectators also hold the Penn Relay Carnival in high regard. For teams and athletes who show up year after year, Penn Relays has evolved from just another meet to a time-honored tradition.
For the Villanova Wildcats, the Penn Relays are a chance to show up in front of a “home crowd.”
Although the Wildcats have an impressive home track that holds 12,500 spectators, it’s nestled between a parking lot, SEPTA railroad tracks, and an interstate. It’s not exactly comparable to the legendary Franklin Field, which houses over 50,000 spectators and is only a stone’s throw away from Villanova, Pa.
Villanova won its first wheel in 1932 for the freshman mile relay, then considered a premier event. Since then, the Wildcats have usurped the Quakers, becoming the winningest team in Penn Relays history.
On Friday, April 24, the Wildcats looked to be on the precipice of their 141st Penn Relays victory as Marco Langon charged down the track for the men’s distance medley relay Championship of America. But a 22.6-second close over the final 200 meters wasn’t enough to eclipse Oregon’s Simeon Birnbaum, whose torso crossed the line as Langon dove face-first into the track. With bloodied legs and a scowl on his face, Langon walked off the track, unsatisfied with a second-place finish.
The next morning, Langon walked down the legendary Hall of Wheels on his way from the locker room to the coach’s office.
“The wheels were the last thing I saw before I left campus today,” Langon said. “When we had to go up to the office, I touched the first wheel that we ever got. … I see it on the wall — it says ‘Villanova, first Penn Relays wheel.’ I touched it, said a prayer, and [we] got on our way.”
Realizing the part he could play in the Villanova track story, Langon was more incensed than ever to capture the wheel in his final collegiate relay at Franklin Field — the 4xMile. But he’d have to take down Birnbaum and Virginia 3:48 miler Gary Martin on the way to victory.
As Bailey Habler handed off to Langon for the final mile, five teams were in contention for the title. Unlike Friday, where Langon attempted to conserve energy and run from the back of the pack until the final stretch, the Wildcat took off in a dead sprint to lead the pack. In the final 200 meters, Birnbaum attempted to respond to Langon, but it was too little, too late. The Wildcats would hoist the wheel once again with a triumphant surge at the line.
“[It’s] more unbelievable knowing that I get to be part of the long, lasting legacy of Villanova. The Penn Relays is unbelievable,” Langon said.
For Pennsylvania high schools, the Penn Relays are the place to prove yourself.
Mifflin County High School out of Lewiston, Pa., comes to Franklin Field every April like clockwork. But this year, it felt different.
Reese Cubbison, Connor Lynch, Wyatt Kauffman, and Carter Smith were coming off a two-second victory in the distance medley relay at New Balance Indoor Nationals in March under the Juniata Valley Striders track club. Despite racing at Penn Relays in years prior, the Huskies were never considered title threats.
Cubbison kicked off action with a quick 1200-meter leg to keep Mifflin in contention. In Lynch’s Franklin Field debut, the Lock Haven commit ran 51.30 over 400 meters before handing off to Kauffman. Kauffman dropped the fastest 800-meter split across the field by almost two seconds to decrease the gap going into the final exchange.
Similar to the men’s 4xMile one day later, the final handoff would prove to be a five team affair. Mifflin was at the back of the top pack, which was only separated by mere footsteps. A heroic effort from Smith on the anchor would bring it home in a new meet record. In his outdoor season debut, the Oklahoma State commit ran a 4:05 mile as Mifflin finished two-and-a-half seconds in front of the field.
This was Mifflin’s third Penn Relays victory in school history and first relay title. Smith walked away with high school boys’ relay athlete of the meet for his anchor leg, upsetting Bullis senior Quincy Wilson.
“It feels amazing to be able to do this with this group of guys right here,” Smith said. “This is the last season we’re ever going to run together, and it’s super sad, but at the same time, we’re just going to try to get everything we can out of it. Today adds on to that and we’re going to remember this forever.”
William Penn Charter School knows Penn’s campus like the back of their hand.
The Quaker connection runs deep between Penn and William Penn Charter. During the indoor season, William Penn Charter would take trips down to the Ott Center for Track and Field to regularly work out and compete at a state-of-the-art indoor facility.
The exchange goes both ways — last year, when Sheerr Pool was being repaired, Penn’s varsity and club swim teams would practice at their Quaker counterparts’ facilities when Drexel and the YMCA were occupied.
William Penn Charter’s signature event is the 4x800-meter relay without question. At New Balance Indoor Nationals, the Quakers finished second in the nation behind Florida powerhouse IMG Academy. Both teams would meet again in the 4x800 Championship of America finals.
Abby Downin led the charge for the Quakers, taking turns leading the field with IMG and Jamaican rivals. Although IMG’s Danielle Graham opened up a significant gap on the second leg, William Penn’s Marlie Klein stayed consistent, leading the chase pack into the second exchange. When three-time national middle school record holder Mackenzie Skelly took the baton, the Quakers began to break away from the rest of the field.
As Penn State commit Gwen Hamilton zeroed in on the Ascenders during the final stretch, the Quakers separated themselves from the chase pack. Hamilton closed in a remarkable 2:09.58 to solidify the Quakers’ 8:49.73 finish for the silver medal.
“It’s a weird feeling honestly, to be here and be so close to home and have so many friends and family here, but then also [Penn Relays] being such a competitive that we’re not used to being so local [sic],” Downin said. She’ll return to Franklin Field next year representing Ivy rival Harvard.
For Penn alumni, the Penn Relays are a homecoming of sorts.
2020 Nursing graduate and 800 program record holder Nia Akins began her outdoor season at the Paul Donahue Invitational on April 17th. Her racing pedigree set her up for an easy victory, but sophomore mid-distance runners Quin Stovall and L’Mio Edwards finished right behind her.
“It was nice to get out there [with] something lowkey to officially open up,” Akins said. “Running around the stripes was really cool.”
Akins toed the line at Franklin Field one weekend later in the Olympic Development 800-meter run. She finished fourth out of seven in an all-professional field. Last year, she won the title in a shallower field as the only runner sticking with the pacer from the gun. Despite the disappointing result, Akins was still grateful for the opportunity to compete on her home turf.
During the indoor season, Akins regularly competed against the Red and Blue at home meets hosted by the Ott Center. Although the Ott Center is affiliated with the Quakers, Akins doesn’t consider it her home track — the Ott Center opened well after Akins graduated.
“[It feels] surreal. This is a really special place to me,” Akins said of returning to Franklin Field as a professional. “It’s a really unique opportunity to cross paths with where you grew up in a sense … In college, this was the end of the year for me, to come out here [and] have this be my opener is a bit different.”
Another Penn graduate turned professional runner watched from the sidelines as her sister took the stage on Friday, April 24. 2024 College graduate Isabella Whittaker stood on the infield, preparing the finish line for the women’s distance medley relay Championship of America. Her sister, Juliette Whittaker, led off the Stanford Cardinal in the event, running 3:12.81 over three laps to set the tone.
A third leg effort from the University of North Carolina upset the Cardinal’s momentum as Makayla Paige closed the gap. As Isabella Whittaker took to the track to hold the finish line, it was neck-and-neck between Stanford’s Mena Scatchard and North Carolina’s Vera Sjoberg. On the final stretch, Sjoberg pulled ahead of Scatchard, beating the Cardinal by eight hundredths of a second to reset the NCAA record.
It was a flashback moment for the Whittaker sisters, who ran the distance medley relay together during their only year of overlap at Mount De Sales Academy. As soon as Sjoberg splits the tape, Whittaker turns to her sister. Stanford had also taken down the collegiate record, but the Cardinal came up just short at the end.
“It was fun,” Isabella Whittaker said about holding the finish line. “I felt like I was part of the DMR team in a sense. I almost forgot I was supposed to be holding the tape up because I was so excited about the finish of the race.”
One day later, on Saturday, April 25, Juliette Whittaker prepared to take the baton for her final Championship of America relay. It’s a close field once again — this time the lead switches back and forth between Stanford, North Carolina, and Penn State.
After getting off the track, Juliette Whittaker claims the roar of the audience propelled her through those final 200 meters of the anchor leg. The palpable energy, a heartbeat thousands of spectators strong, set the pace as Whittaker propelled the Cardinal to another silver medal. She ran 2:00.96 over that final 800 meters — the fastest split of the field.
As a post-race silence hangs in the air, the truth sets in — it’s the last time either of the Whittaker sisters will compete at Franklin Field unless they come back as professionals next season.
“Going into the pro world, there’s not much of an opportunity for relays,” Juliette Whittaker said about her experience at her final Penn Relays. “[I’m] just really trying to soak up all these opportunities that I’m getting to race with my college team before all the new and exciting things that will come next year.”
Sports reporter Javier St. Remy contributed reporting to this article.
