University of Oregon
Penn Relays
Relay Teams Win Two Penn Wheels
04/30/16 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon track and field captured two Penn Wagon Wheels for victories at the Penn Relays on Friday, winning both the women's 4x100 and the sprint medley relay.
The 4x100 team started the day by earning the first Penn Wheel of the weekend, improving upon their prelim time and finishing in 43.44. The win marked the first in the event for an Oregon team at the Penn Relays, giving the Oregon women wins in five different relays events at the meet since 2012.
While an Oregon squad already led the nation in the event this season, the quartet of Danielle Barbian, Deajah Stevens, Hannah Cunliffe and Ariana Washington, which ran on Friday, now have the seventh-fastest time in the NCAA.
“This is just a really fun meet,” Washington said. “We came here to win and just to have fun, and that's just what we did. This win keeps our confidence up.”
The Ducks picked up their second wheel hours later as Cunliffe, Washington, Brooke Feldmeier and Raevyn Rogers defended Oregon's title in the sprint medley relay. The Ducks carried a slight edge through the first three legs before handing off to the two-time NCAA Champion, Rogers, for her specialty distance.
Rogers looked as comfortable as ever, extending her lead as the race went on and finished with a four-second gap over Clemson in 3:46.40. Though it was the star sophomore who broke open the race, she was quick to share the credit.
“We always go out there expecting to win and do the best that we can,” Rogers said. “I'm glad I get to run with an amazing group of women and be coached by some great coaches."
The women's 1,500 team of Emma Abrahamson, Ashley Maton, Alli Cash and Annie Leblanc finished second. The race came down to a final kick with Leblanc anchoring for the Ducks. The senior was making up ground down the home stretch but ran out of room to catch the winner from Villanova, and finished in 17:44.67.
Jasmine Todd competed in the open 100, winning her heat with the second-fastest time of the day to advance to the final on Saturday where she will be joined by Danielle Barbian who finished the prelim in 11.77.
Two Ducks advanced in the 100 hurdles as well, as Sasha Wallace led the field in 13.25 and Alaysha Johnson followed in 13.85.
At the OSU High Performance meet, the Ducks tallied five wins in the distance events.
Chris Mulverhill and Brianna Nerud won the men's and women's steeplechase, respectively. Mulverhill finished in 9:07.71 while Nerud posted a season-best time of 10:15.23.
Lilli Burdon and Chris Brewer swept the 1,500 races while Bryan Fernandez took the top spot in the men's 5,000. Burdon's winning time of 4:19.92 is a personal best for the freshman, as was Fernandez's time of 14:21.87, six seconds faster than his previous best.
While track events were held at OSU, the Ducks had a pair of competitors in the hammer throw which was held at Western Oregon University. There, Cullen Prena won the men's hammer throw with a big personal best of 192-8 (58.74m) while Madeline Middlebrooks finished second on the women's side with a distance of 181-9 (55.41m). Middlebrooks set a personal best in the event on Thursday at the Titan Twilight and showed her consistency by throwing only three feet shy of that mark on Friday.
The Penn Relays will conclude on Saturday, beginning with the individual finals at 12:15 p.m. PT. The OSU High Performance Meet will begin at 10 a.m., starting with the men's javelin.
