The George Mason track and field teams will send a select group of athletes to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, scheduled from Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25 at Franklin Field. The event is known as one of the nation’s premier track and field competitions.
The Penn Relays are significant for college athletes as they represent both tradition and high competition standards. This year marks the 130th edition of the meet, which has been held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field since 1895.
Athletes from fellow Atlantic 10 programs such as Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, and Saint Joseph’s will also participate. Accepted entries for this event have met high qualifying standards set by meet officials. The competition will be streamed on FloTrack with live results available throughout the weekend.
George Mason’s schedule includes Fiona Agyekum in the women’s hammer throw; Alex DeRoussel in men’s steeplechase; Ella Semple in women’s 5000m; Lloyd Sheppard-Brown and Biruk Beardsley in men’s 5000m; Kellen La Roche and Jay Sims in men’s high jump; Cameron Portis in men’s discus throw; Morgan Batten in men’s javelin throw; Walt Bannerman in men’s pole vault; Abby Weening in women’s high jump; Kennedy Drish and Alina Florou-Dimitriadou in women’s pole vault.
In their previous outings at the Virginia Challenge and Navy Spring Invitational last week, several Patriots posted strong performances. Caleb Hymans placed third in the men’s 1500m (3:47.90), while relay teams earned season-best times. In field events, Kennedy Drish was fifth place (women’s pole vault) with a mark of 4.13 meters.
Several team members currently rank among NCAA Division I leaders: Abby Weening is ranked No.14 nationally for women’s heptathlon (5622 points) and No.22 for women’s high jump (1.82 meters), while Kennedy Drish is No.21 for women’s pole vault (4.33 meters). Multiple Patriots also lead their events within the Atlantic 10 conference.
