Relays Day 1: morning update

Welcome to ladies day at the Penn Relays as the high school girls and college women take the big stage.

Here are the day's highlights and lowlights so far.

Highlights: Methacton (PA) high schooler Ryann Krais ran a 58.93, the nation's fastest time of the year, to win the 400-meter hurdles.

Fellow DP sportswriter Pari Hashemi getting the action started this morning in the college edition of the 400m hurdles. She'll compete later in the Heps 4x400.

The Penn Relays showing a little sense of humor in their homage to the Second Vatican Council, putting Pope John XXIII (NJ) and Pope Paul VI (VA) in the same heat of the 4x800 small schools relay.

Penn Relays director Dave Johnson and his cronies competing against yours truly in a rousing game of Quizo at New Deck last night. Glad to see he could go out the night before the big day.

My first Jamaican beef patty of the weekend.

Lowlights: The fact that the line was out the door at Dunkin Donuts on Walnut Street this morning with several runners in the group. I know they're a sponsor this year, but isn't there something better to eat before the races?

An ugly collision on the last handoff by the Heritage High School 4x100 team. But anchor Shanice Mitchell made a nice recovery and even stayed out of last place in the race.

Our first of many raindrops over the course of the next three days.

And for those of you who entered the contest yesterday, going into the start of today's events, we were at 2,603.58 miles with the distance classic, the decathlon and the heptathlon completed.