Track travels to Philly for three day Penn Relays

The Columbia track and field team will be heading to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the Penn Relays. After last week’s successes at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, the Lions look to improve their times against Ivy League opponents.

Last year at the Penn Relays, the Light Blue achieved some remarkable finishes. A squad consisting of current senior Marissa Smith and former Lions Osamuede Iyoha, Whitney Crayton, and Erika Moses finished third in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:46.91.

On the men’s side, the Lions had similar results, as the team of current sophomore Jeff Moriarty, current junior Mike Mark, and former Lions Liam Boylan-Pett and Jonah Rathbun took third place as well in the 4x800-meter relay. Both the women’s 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter teams, and the men’s 4x800-meter team came in at times that were good for second all-time in school history. Former Lion Shelby Leland took fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase to qualify for the NCAA Regionals.

After last week’s finishes at the Larry Ellis Invitational, in which eight Lions qualified for the NCAA Regionals and two school records were broken, the Columbia team is eager to return to the track.

All eyes will be on standout performers Moriarty and freshmen Sharay Hale and Kyra Caldwell. Moriarty has been building an incredible season thus far, winning the 800-meter premiere run at Arizona State University’s Sun Angel Track Classic, while Hale has improved her performance in her debut season, taking first in the 400-meter dash at Princeton last weekend. Caldwell finished second in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles.

Expectations are high, as the Lions round out one of their last meets before the Ivy League, ECAC/IC4A, and NCAA championships this season.

The Penn Relays will begin on Thursday, April 23, and end on Saturday, April 25.