The largest track meet in the United States — the Penn Relays — came to a close Saturday as IU athletes competed side-by-side with the toughest competition in the nation.
Six schools — Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin and IU — represented the Big Ten, while Indiana Tech and IU were the only schools representing the state of Indiana.
The crowd exceeded its expected attendance of 110,000, and 22,000 athletes — Olympians, collegiates and preps — competed in the four-day meet.
“We look at who manages the difficult environment,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said about evaluating the Penn Relay performance. “We like to see who really engages the competition and excels in this type of environment.”
Junior distance runner Brianna Johnson excelled in the 4x1500-meter relay as she set a split time of 4:25.70, just three seconds short of her personal record.
The relay, consisting of Johnson, freshmen Brenna Calder and Corinne Cominator and sophomore Madison Stenger nearly broke a school record in the event as they fell four seconds short with a fifth-place time of 18:00.43.
“It was a different mindset heading into this meet,” Johnson said. “We actually went in trying to break the record, and it was a little disappointing that we fell short because, in an 18-minute race, we could have pulled those four seconds from anywhere.”
Johnson owns the top times on IU’s women’s team in the 1500-meter run (4:22.48) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:34.98).
The opportunity to experience the big stage and large crowds was one benefit of the Penn Relays, Johnson said.
“It’s a lot like what Big Tens are like,” Johnson said. “This just made me feel more prepared for the big meets that are coming up this season.”
U.S. Olympians also competed in relays as they took on the national teams of countries such as Jamaica, Canada and China.
Athletes like Dee Dee Trotter, Justin Gatlin and Ameer Webb competed in the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,600-meter relays.
Of the six events — men’s and women’s races of each relay — the U.S. triumphed in four.
“It made me feel a lot of pride for the U.S.,” Johnson said. “It also provided a little bit of inspiration, seeing how they compete on that level.”
The Hoosiers also sent athletes to Des Moines, Iowa, to compete in the Drake Relays at Drake University.
Also a high-profile meet, the Drake Relays reigned in a crowd of close to 15,000 people, and Olympians competed in certain events there as well, including IU alum Derek Drouin, who won the high jump.
Highlighting the meet for IU, though, was freshman distance runner Eric Claxton, who finished second in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:57.67) and fourth in the 4x1,600-meter relay (16:28.81).
“The 4x1600 was a great way to run against other competitive teams,” Claxton said about the rare relay. “It was a pretty relaxing race and kept me fresh for the steeplechase.”
Claxton’s time in the steeplechase landed him 29th in the NCAA East Region, good enough to qualify him for the regional national meet in May.
“I’m ecstatic about my time in the steeple,” Claxton said. “Qualifying for the regionals would be huge because I hadn’t ran a race good enough this season, and with the outdoor season ending soon, I needed a race like this.”
With the Big Ten Championships coming up May 15, the Penn Relays and Drake Relays offered a perfect break from the incessant need to qualify for events yet great experiences with competing on big stages.
“We talk about (running in big meets) but until they see it, they don’t understand it,” Helmer said. “You can’t pick and choose your challenges; you have to embrace them all. That’s what great athletes do.”
