The 2016 Penn Relays continued on Friday, April 29, with show-stopping performances from high-caliber track and field talent—check out the highlights below!

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1. Boys High School DMR: Drew Hunter Splits 4:00.73; Loudon Valley Wins by .001

Anchored by the fastest indoor miler in U.S. high school history, Loudon Valley’s (VA) DMR relay defeated defending champion La Salle (RI) by a thousandth of a second in a down-to-the-wire finish.

The drama began almost immediately when Loudon Valley’s Colton Bogucki took a tumble in the first 200m of the opening 1200m leg. He quickly got back on his feet, but when he passed the baton, he was near the back of the pack and behind the leading team by about 80 meters. When Hunter began his 1600m anchor, he was eight seconds removed from the leader, 4:08-miler Jack Salisbury of La Salle.

Hunter clipped off runners as he peeled through 400m in 56 seconds and 800m in 2:00. He caught up to Salisbury with a little more than a lap to go. Instead of fighting to maintain a gap between him and Hunter, the La Salle senior continued to coast in an audacious bid to see whose 200m kick was stronger. His strategy ALMOST worked—they were stride-for-stride, but Hunter’s 4:00.73 split—the second-fastest in Penn Relays history behind Alan Webb’s 3:59.9—capped by a wild lean earned the wheel for Loudon Valley.

Loudon Valley’s Splits: Colton Bogucki (3:11.03), Nathaniel Thompson (49.28), Will Smagh (1:58.97), Andrew Hunter (4:00.73) = 10:00.003

2. College Women’s 4x1500m: Villanova’s Anchor Stuns Field with Crazy Kick 

After closing a 15-meter gap to join Georgetown and Oregon at the front of the field, Siofra Cleirigh Buttner played along with their tactics for more than a lap before she decided she’d had enough. She was going for the finish line, and NOBODY was going to stop her.

Oregon’s Annie Leblanc, Georgetown’s Andrea Keklak, Indiana’s Brianna Johnson and Buttner were all tightly packed with about 400m to go when the Wildcat sophomore shocked the field by shifting into a gear they couldn’t match. By the time Keklak and Leblanc responded, it was too late. Buttner ripped an insane final lap to split 4:21.7 and secure the win for ‘Nova.

Villanova’s Splits: Bella Burda (4:29.7), Sammy Bockoven (4:22.7), Nicole Hutchinson (4:30.2), Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (4:21.7) = 17:44.29

3. College Men’s DMR: Penn State Repeats as Champions in Dominant Finish

Three seconds separated places one through four as Penn State repeated as champions at Franklin Field in 9:35.51; Georgetown took second in 9:36.32; Penn earned third to break a 44-year-old school record in 9:37.25; and Oklahoma State grabbed fourth in 9:37.49.

The race came down to a slow, tactical 1600m among 10 anchors within 15 meters of each other at a lap to go. Brannon Kidder led the pack the whole way, and began to spread out the field with 400m to go when he engaged his kick. Georgetown’s Ahmed Bile attempted to keep pace, but couldn’t hold his speed down the homestretch. Kidder closed in 4:00.77 over Bile’s 4:01.25.

Penn State’s Splits: Robby Creese (2:57.01), Alex Shisler (47.77), Isaiah Harris (1:49.96), Brannon Kidder (4:00.77) = 9:35.51

4. College Men’s SMR: Florida’s Sprinters Blow the Competition Away

Following two dynamite 200m legs by Pan-American junior champion Ryan Clark and All-American Arman Hall, freshman Kunle Fasai got out quick and simply maintained his lead for a lap. By the time Andres Arroyo grabbed the stick for the 800m, second-place Brigham Young was nowhere in sight. Arroyo, who recently claimed the Olympic standard in 1:45.78, breezed through the finish line for a prevailing win.

Florida’s Splits: Ryan Clark (Unknown), Arman Hall (Unknown), Kunle Fasasi (46.9), Andres Arroyo (1:48.62) = 3:16.87

5. College Women’s 4x100 & SMR: Oregon All the Way

Although the race was close at the start, the homestretch was all green and orange as the Volunteers battled the Ducks for top honors in the women’s 4x100m relay. Despite lacking their usual leadoff leg from All-American Jasmine Todd, Oregon’s lineup of Danielle Barbian, Deajah Stevens, Hannah Cunliffe and Ariana Washington certainly didn’t disappoint with a 43.44 result for the victory.

Cunliffe and Washington returned to the track to do some more damage in the sprint medley relay, where the Ducks repeated as champions both on the day and for the second consecutive year. Cunliffe, tied for fourth in the NCAA with her 22.71 season’s-best mark, ate up the stagger for the Ducks on the first leg before passing off to Washington, who held the lead heading for Feldmeier. Raevyn Rogers, the reigning NCAA 800m champion, ran a casual
2:05.83 800m leg to cross the line first for Oregon.

Oregon’s Splits: Hannah Cunliffe (Unknown), Ariana Washington (Unknown), Brooke Feldmeier (53.7), Raevyn Rogers (2:05.83) = 3:46.40