Mike Rodgers, Cameron Burrell and Raevyn Rogers lead USA vs. the World field at Penn Relays
The competition, in its 20th year, will feature the 4x100, 4x400 and sprint medley relays for men and women. The team from Jamaica will be formidable with former Olympic gold medalists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson expected to take part.
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Sprint veteran Mike Rodgers, NCAA champion Cameron Burrell and former Oregon star Raevyn Rogers are among the contestants for the 20th annual USA vs. the World competition to be held Saturday at the Penn Relays, USA Track and Field has announced.
USA vs. the World will feature men’s and women’s relays in the 4x100, 4x400 and sprint medley. The races at Franklin Field mark the renewal of the friendly rivalry between the United States and Jamaica, and each country will field two teams in the men’s and women’s 4x100 with Olympic gold medalists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson heading Jamaica’s unit.
Rodgers, 34, has been a part of four winning teams at USA vs. the World, his most recent in 2016 when he anchored the victorious United States 4x200 unit. His other three victories came leading off on the 4x100.
Burrell, the son of former 100-meter world-record holder and Penn Wood High School star Leroy Burrell, won the 100-meter dash and took part on the triumphant 4x100 team for Houston at the 2018 NCAA outdoor championships. He was a member of two winning teams for the Cougars at last year’s Penn Relays.
Rogers, who moved her training base last year to Philadelphia, was a member of the winning 4x400 team at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. She also ran anchor on last year’s USA vs. the World sprint-medley team that set a world and American record of 1 minute, 35.20 seconds.
Two other members of that sprint-medley team, Destinee Brown and Aaliyah Brown, are also scheduled to run Saturday at Penn.
Other countries expected to compete are Canada, Kenya, Bahamas, Guyana, Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda.
Mullings, Rosso lead
Seeking to become the first athlete since 2008 to win back-to-back Penn Relays decathlons, Ken Mullings of the University of the Bahamas led Tuesday after the first five events with 3,825 points.
Mullings, who scored 6,930 at Penn last year, won the long jump (22 feet, 5 inches) and the high jump (6-7) to hold the lead over Christopher Gabor of Mount St. Mary’s. Gabor ran a best of 11.03 seconds in the 100 meters and won two other events en route to 3,645 points.
Freshman Rene Rosso of Mount St. Mary’s captured the 100-meter hurdles (14.85 seconds) and the high jump (5-6) to end the first four events of the heptathlon with 2,907 points and the lead over Kelly Ward of Connecticut, who had 2,762.