University of Oregon
Penn Relays
Ducks Run Away with Men?s 4xMile Relay at Penn Relays
04/24/10 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon won the men's 4xmile relay and broke a 15-year-old school record in the women's 4x400 meter relay Saturday on the final day of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
The men's four-mile relay team pulled clear of the field on A.J. Acosta's third leg and cruised to an easy victory in 16:15.14. Halfway through the race, the Ducks were in third following legs by freshman Mac Fleet (4:03.3) and senior Michael Maag (4:04.1).
Acosta then turned on the jets, blowing past runners from Indiana and Princeton with a 4:02.5 mile, to put Oregon in front for good. The junior from Oceanside, Calif., handed the baton off to sophomore Matthew Centrowitz with a comfortable lead, and Centrowitz continued to distance the Ducks from the field, leading by as many as 70 meters, in a 4:05.2 anchor leg.
"Coming in to this relay, there was a lot of talk about fast times, how good our relay was," said Centrowitz. "In our minds, our main goal was to come out here and win, nothing set aside. Having a lot of pressure with a team with such great PRs, I think we, as a team, handled it well and we were fortunate enough to come out with a win."
Auburn rallied for second in 16:20.41, with Michigan third at 16:20.56, Indiana fourth at 16:20.90 and Princeton fifth at 16:21.41.
The women's 4x400 meter relay team was just as impressive in a runner-up finish to the defending champions from Jamaica.
The Kingston-based University of Technology won in 3:31.54, but Oregon was a close second in a school-record 3:32.34, as Amber Purvis got the Ducks got to the line just before a hard-charging Jessica Beard from Texas A&M to record the second fastest time in the NCAA this season.
Junior Jamesha Youngblood led off in 54.7 and senior Keshia Baker pulled Oregon even with Penn State and U-Tech on a sizzling 51.8 second leg. Junior Michele Williams held position with the Nitany Lions by running a 52.98 lap as U-Tech fell a few paces behind. Sophomore Amber Purvis then passed Penn State's Doris Anyanwu on the final curve, but U-Tech charged back for the win thanks to an outstanding leg of 51.60 by Stephenie McPherson.
Still, Purvis had enough on a 52.87 turn to hold off Beard, who closed in 51.05, by half a second. The Aggies ran 3:32.86 with Penn State fourth in 3:33.06.
Oregon's time broke the 15-year-old school record of 3:33.11 set by LeReina Woods, Camara Jones, Jamila Godfrey and Nicole Commisiong in 1995. It also means that all four active school relay records - the outdoor 4x100 and 4x400 and the indoor 4x400 and distance medley - have been broken by Oregon in the last two months.
Also Saturday, the Duck men, who captured the distance medley title on Friday, nearly made it a clean sweep in the longer relays, but finished second to Virginia in the 4x800 meter race. The Cavaliers won in 7:15.38, with Oregon clocking 7:15.55. Penn State was third in 7:17.02.
Junior Travis Thompson led off for Oregon in 1:50.56. Fleet, running his third race of the weekend, followed in 1:47.64. Freshman Elijah Greer pulled Oregon even at the last exchange with a 1:49.59 third leg.
That set up a dual between Andrew Wheating and Robby Andrews of Virginia, who nipped Wheating for the 2010 NCAA 800 meter indoor title. The two runners, and Penn State's Ryan Foster, jostled for position on the last lap before Andrews pulled slightly ahead down the stretch and held off Wheating, who competed outdoors for the first time in 2010 this weekend. Both ran 1:47.78.
The women's 4x800 meter relay team of Chloe Steinbeck, Anne Kesselring, Nicole Blood and Zoe Buckman finished third in 8:32.40. Kesselring, a freshman from Nurnberg, Germany, turned in an impressive 2:04.79 800 on the second leg.
Tennessee won the race in 8:18.22 with Louisiana State second in 8:19.77.
For the weekend at the Penn Relays, the Oregon men will come home with a pair of wins in the 4xmile and distance medley relays, plus a runner-up finish in the 4x800 relay. The women placed second in the 4x400 meter and distance medley relays, and were third in both the 4x800 and 4x1,500 meter relays.
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