2012 Penn Relays: Notes from the Carnival, Dining at Penn’s Smorgasbord of Track & Field, by Dave Hunter, note by Larry Eder

On his coaching switch: “John Smith is my new coach.  He is teaching me to be fast.  My training is definitely technical.  He is working on my form and teaching me about the stages of the 100.”
On the USA v. The World Relays:  “They’re a sneak preview of the Olympic Relays.”

On baton passing: “It is more complicated than making a five foot putt or sinking a foul shot.  The sprinters are running 25 miles per hour. We just need to work and focus.”

On Penn: “This is our equivalent of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.  It is a chance for us to work together as teammates and not as competitors.”
On his coaching switch: “Dennis Mitchell has been my coach since November.  He is helping me a lot.”
On his new world indoor title in the 60:  “I haven’t raced the 60 since I was 19. It felt great.”
On baton passing: “It’s about camaraderie and working together.  It can be a scary situation.  We just have to man up and get that stick around.”

On her 50.18 outdoor opener:  “I am happy to have run so close to 50 seconds in my first race of the season. I have never started this fast.  I am running in Jamaica next week and hope to run even faster.”
On Penn: “It is the official start to the outdoor season.”
On legendary Clyde Hart:  Coach Hart is 76 and he isn’t going to change [his training approach] much.  But he has helped me to change.  He has helped me to bring more focus to my training.”

On a possible Olympic 200/400 double attempt: “I haven’t completely ruled out the double. My focus has been on the 200.  I won’t decide [on the attempt to double] until shortly before the Trials.”

Jamaican Olympic Gold Medalist In the 100 / Shelley Ann Fraser-Pryce:

On the competition:  “I try not to focus on my the competition or on how others are performing. I stay focused on myself.”
On her training:  “I work to stay focused on my training.  I want to stay healthy and train hard.”

On Penn:  “I love the crowd participation here.  When I am out on the track waiting to anchor the 4 x 100, I love being in that corner. The excitement, the crowd shouting out my name – it is wonderful.”
On the international competition at Penn:  “The focus is not about me being an American; it is about me being a sprinter.”
On her training:  ‘I have been doing more 400 training this year.”
On baton passing teamwork:  ‘It’s a trust game.  We have to stay focused to get that stick around.”

Back amid the swirl of activity inside the stadium – everything from the Camden Diocese Girls 4 x 100 Rel
ay to the all-important qualifying heats of the College Men’s 4 x 400 – two outstanding relays in particular stood out on Friday: the College Women’s 4 x 1500 Relay and the College Men’s Distance Medley Relay. In the women’s race, Oregon dominated.  But sometimes you have to look to find the race within the race. 

And while her Lady Duck teammates gave Oregon anchor Becca Friday an insurmountable lead, a battle was brewing between two all-Americans:  Sheila Reid and Emily Infeld, the talented anchors for Villanova and Georgetown. 

Taking the stick almost together, the two ran in tandem over the final 1500 as they cut into Oregon’s lead.  Reid worked hard to shake her competitor, but Infeld wouldn’t let go.  While Oregon wouldn’t be caught this day, a strong sprint by Infeld down the final straight gave her a narrow edge over her Wildcat rival. But the most electrifying relay of the day had to be the College Men’s DMR.  With 14 of the country’s top collegiate squads toeing the line, the crowd braced itself for a great race. On the leadoff 1320, the field began cautiously until Princeton’s Joe Stillen made a strong move to open a meaningful gap with 600 remaining. And while the field closed on the final straightaway, Stillen’s opening 2:59.0 gave the Tigers a slim lead at the first exchange. A powerful 46.3 quarter by Princeton’s Tom Hopkins lengthened the Tiger advantage.   Princeton’s third runner, Michael Williams, paid dearly for his over-zealous first lap as the half-milers from Oregon, Columbia, and Indiana erased the Princeton lead going into the final leg.  Sensing the field bunching, the milers slowed the pace. An opening quarter of 68 seconds allowed the 12 of the 14 teams to clump behind the Princeton anchor man – All-American Donn Cabral. 

You could feel the Franklin Field buzz as the crowd knew a furious finish was in the making.  Successively-quicker laps placed Cabral in the lead – and in control of the race – as the bell lap began.  With 300 to go, Indiana’s Andrew Bayer made a determined push for the lead, but Cabral’s response held the Hoosier at bay. Coming of the final turn, six teams battled for places on the podium.  And while the first six teams were separated by less than 1 second, Cabral’s final circuit in 54 seconds went unmatched as Princeton captured the victory.  Last year, the Tigers’ win in the Men’s 4 x Mile was its first relay victory at Penn in 71 years.  Now, just a year later, it had captured another.