Several members of the girls track and field team will be traveling to the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field to compete in the annual Penn Relays between Apr. 26-28.
The Penn Relays, hosted annually since Apr. 21 1895, brings in teams from around the world to compete in track and field events.
“Mainly teams from the east coast compete, but there are some teams from California,” track and field Clifford Wong said. “There’s [also] a team from Jamaica, a team from Sweden [and] a team from New Zealand, as well as other countries.”
Senior Heather Holt has attended the relays all four years of high school and said she appreciates the chance to return again.
“Having the chance to go again really means a lot, especially since [the team and I] worked really hard to get there,” Holt said.
Administrative Assistant of Activities Kathy Veoni explains that some of the best runners in the world go to the Penn Relay to compete.
“Olympic players go [to the Penn Relay], and it’s an honor to be at,” Veoni said.
Holt said how the Penn Relay differs from any other ordinary track and field meet because of its attendees and historical value.
“[The Penn Relay is] history,” Holt said. “There’s a lot of colleges that will be running there as well. They have professional races at the end of the week. The history of the meet is pretty special; with all the records that have been there, and all the teams that have run in the past, so it’s pretty exciting to go. The atmosphere is very different from the normal high school meet.”
Holt explained her confidence and belief that her team will do great at the upcoming Penn Relay.
“I think that [the team and I] definitely have a lot of work to keep doing, but we’ve always been pretty prepared because we’ve always been motivated to keep improving,” Holt said. “Just making it [to the Penn Relay] has been a goal of ours. Coming back again this year, from having gone in the past, was a really big accomplishment for us. I think we’re ready to run there because running there in the past has really helped me, and we’ve been looking really forward to it.”
Wong explained the team’s other accomplishments and said his expectation for the Penn Relay.
“We have made the championship of America,” Wong said. “We have also won four conference titles, a regional title and a state CC title. [The Penn Relay] is just another step in the upward movement of the track and field program here at Marshall High School.”
2018-05-16