Guide to the 2022 Penn Relays, back at Franklin Field after 3-year absence

The Penn Relays are back in the closest version to their full form as has been since the pandemic hit.

Olympian Ajee Wilson speaks during a press conference on this year’s Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 21, 2022. The event will take place in front of spectators for the first time since the pandemic on April 28 to April 30.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

by Joe Juliano, For The Inquirer

Published Apr. 25, 2022, 7:25 p.m. ET

It has been an agonizing wait for fans to be able to watch the Penn Relays again. The pandemic completely wiped out the carnival in 2020, and a small meet limited to Philadelphia area schools was conducted at Franklin Field last year.

However, 1,097 days after the last official Penn Relays race crossed the finish line, the carnival is back at full strength – an estimated 15,000 athletes ranging in ages from 9 to a 100-year-old contestant in the Masters 100, in 298 events over 37 ½ hours covering three days from Thursday through Saturday.

After two years of silence, the “Wooooo!!” corner at the southeast corner of the old stadium will be reverberating with noise once again. Old-timers who renew acquaintances with friends in a certain section will catch up. The Carnival Village just outside the stadium gates will be rocking.

In other words, the return of the carnival for the 126th time is a welcome sight and marvelous experience for everyone. Let the game begin!

Here’s some of what to look for:

Ch-Ch-Changes: There are some new twists to the carnival this season.

The college Championship of America relays are divided into three on Friday (distance medley, 4x200, sprint medley) and four on Saturday (4x100, 4x800, 4x400 and 4xmile for men, 4x1500 for women). In all those specific events, the women’s championship will be held first, followed immediately afterward by the men.

The championship shuttle hurdles relay, first run at the carnival in 1926, is not on the schedule this year. And after 20 years of competition, the USA vs. The World relays will not be conducted.

Welcome to the Olympians: Penn Relays officials have created a schedule featuring Olympic development events with elite athletes participating.

One of the most anticipated will be the rarely staged women’s 600-meter run on Saturday featuring two-time Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Athing Mu and 2022 world indoor champion and Temple graduate Ajee Wilson along with carnival favorites Natoya Goule (Jamaica, LSU) and Nia Akins (Penn).

Allyson Felix, 36, who won her 11th Olympic medal last season as a member of the victorious U.S. 4x400 team, returns to the carnival where she is scheduled to compete in another uncommon event, the 300 meters.

The field for the men’s 110-meter hurdles is led by 2016 Olympic gold medalist Omar McLeod of Jamaica and newly signed Eagles wide receiver Devon Allen, who missed out at a bronze medal at last year’s Tokyo Games by .04 seconds.

Sydney McLaughlin, who won two Olympic gold medals last year and dazzled the Penn Relays crowd during her time competing for Union Catholic (N.J.) High School, will be one to watch in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.

Yes, Villanova is back: The winner of a record 137 relay championships (94 men, 43 women), Villanova seeks to take home some more wheels and watches back to the Main Line. Look for the Wildcats to compete in the men’s and women’s distance medley and 4x800 relays, with Sean Dolan, Charlie O’Donovan and McKenna Keegan seeking to bring the baton home first.

A Tiger vaulter: Princeton junior Sondre Guttormsen, a UCLA transfer by way of Norway who won the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with an effort of 18 feet, 10 ¼ inches, will lead the field in the men’s pole vault. His brother, Simen, who took fourth place, is also scheduled to compete.

Hoosiers looking for a wheel: Indiana returns to the carnival three years after finishing second in four men’s Championship of America relays by a combined total of 1.25 seconds. The Hoosiers time in the 4xmile was 16:39.86, or .04 seconds behind winning Wisconsin.

Watching out for Cougars: Houston, which swept the men’s 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays at the most recent carnival, is seeded No. 1 in all three events this week. Sophomore Shaun Maswanganyi clocked 10.10 in the 100 earlier this month. The Cougars’ women also look to repeat in the 4x100.

Gamecocks wanting more: The women of South Carolina hold the No. 1 seed in the 4x200 and 4x400, two events in which they captured first place in 2019. The Gamecocks are coming off a fifth-place finish in the 4x400 at the recent NCAA Indoor Championships. One of their relay team members, Makenzie Dunmore, took home three watches from the 2017 carnival competing for Oregon.

Do-You-Feel-Old Dept.: Princeton’s 4x100-meter relay team, which set an Ivy League record last weekend with a time of 39.36 seconds, was anchored by senior Greg Sholars. Sholars’ father, also named Greg, won four Penn Relays watches in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays running for TCU in 1986 and 1987.

Taking a break: If you’re feeling a little weary at any time during the day, the Palestra will be open for the presentation of “The Carnival: 125 Years of the Penn Relays,” a retrospective of the historic event going back to its beginning on April 20, 1895. Carl Lewis, Renaldo Nehemiah and Vicki Huber are among those sharing their experiences.