This weekend, Oregon track and field will continue its march toward the Pac-12 Championships by heading back east for the storied Penn Relays. While the majority of the team will be stationed in Pennsylvania, two key contributors — middle-distance runners Jordan Hasay and Luke Puskedra — will travel to California for the Payton Jordan Invitational on Sunday in Stanford, Calif. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205419509@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=243&SPSID=4364@@
The Penn Relays are the oldest track and field competition in the U.S., and have been hosted annually by the University of Pennsylvania since 1895. Oregon will be competing in the meet for the first time since 2010. The Ducks will send nine relay teams to the event, as well as three individual competitors.
The women will compete in the 4×200, 4×400, 4×800, 4×1,500 and distance medley relay. The men have entries in the 4×400, 4×800, 4xmile and distance medley relay. In addition to those squads, Oregon will have senior Bronwyn Crossman in the women’s 5,000 meters, sophomore Megan Patrignelli in the women’s mile and senior Chris Kwiatkowski in the men’s 5,000.
The meet will be a bit of a homecoming for sophomore sprinter English Gardner, a New Jersey native. Gardner made her season debut in the 100 meters last weekend at the Oregon Relays, running the eighth-fastest time in the nation this season. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4365&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204971131&Q_SEASON=2011@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=243&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205417547@@
“Our big headliner honestly is English Gardner,” associate athletic director Vin Lananna said. “She’s from New Jersey. She grew up around Penn, around Franklin Field. She brings a new dimension to our program. She had a fantastic young career as a high school kid but then she got hurt her senior year. She’s a great 200-meter runner, gutsy competitor, and brings the firepower and puts her as a promising young athlete.”
Lananna admitted that for the majority of the men, the meet will be foreign territory.
“I think we’re strongest in our 4×800, and our 4xmile will be young,” Lananna said. “We have three freshmen on that team. Actually, all four kids have never run at a University like Penn. Dior Mathis is pretty good, Elijah Greer, Michael Berry, Boru Guyota and Trevor Dunbar. As we all know, Penn Relays takes on a different dimension. Within the stands, there are 50,000 people.”
At the Jordan Payton Invitational, both Hasay and Puskedra will make their season debuts in the 5,000. Last year, Hasay claimed Pac-10 crowns in the 5K and 1,500 meters, while Puskedra finished sixth in the country in the in the 10,000. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4365&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3759217&Q_SEASON=2011@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4365&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1554572&Q_SEASON=2011@@
Oregon track and field returns to Penn Relays
Daily Emerald
April 24, 2012
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