The University of Texas made history at Franklin Field when the Longhorns swept all three distance relays -- the 4x800 meter relay, the 4xmile relay and the distance medley relay -- to become the third school in 28 years to accomplish that feat. Texas holds the world record in the distance medley relay.
Longhorn senior Leo Manzano, a two-time NCAA champion in the mile, anchored both the 4xmile and the distance medley relay and was named the Outstanding College Relay Performer for the second consecutive year.
Dartmouth's men's and women's teams opted to compete in select running events, saving field athletes for Sunday's Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover. The Big Green sent 25 runners to Penn, several of whom ran the best races of their careers.
While no overall team score was recorded due to the small number of events that Dartmouth participated in, there were many top 10 finishes.
"The highlights on the men's side were undoubtedly the 10,000-meter race and the distance medley relay," men's coach Barry Harwick '77 said.
Glenn Randall '09 set a personal record in the 10,000-meter race, nearly breaking 30 minutes with a time of 30:00.04. He placed fifth in a huge field of runners from around the country. Randall's time is the second fastest in the Ivies this year and qualified him for both the Heptagonal Championship and the NCAA Regional Meet in May. Randall has enjoyed a successful junior season even a late start due to his commitment to the Dartmouth ski team. In March, he won the NCAA Championships in the 10k Nordic freestyle ski race.
"Glenn raced very aggressively, and I was really happy to see him get such a great time," Harwick said.
The distance medley relay event is a unique event that requires each team member to run a different distance. Harry Norton '08 led Dartmouth off with a time of 2:59 in the 1200-meter run, followed by Charlie Stoebe '08 with a 48.2-second 400-meter dash and Mike Carmody '08 with a time of 1:49.8 in the 800-meter run. Ben True '08 anchored with a blistering 1600-meter time of 4:00.7. Carmody's 800-meter split was the fastest of all athletes in the entire race.
Dartmouth raced in the Championship of America section, the highest tier at the meet. The quartet placed sixth in a field that included the world-record Texas Longhorns. The Big Green's overall time of 9:37.69 is second on Dartmouth's all-time list and fell just short of the school record by a mere .08 seconds.
Dartmouth's women also had several solid performances over the weekend. The 4x400 and 4x800 relay squads both turned in fast times.
"I was especially impressed by our 4x400 team as they set yet another school record," women's head coach Sandra Ford-Centonze said. "It was definitely the highlight of the women's side of the meet."
The 4x400 meter relay was composed of Kaleigh Wood '11, Kara Pydynkowski '08, Alexandra Tanner '11 and Natalie Stoll '10. The team's time of 3:47.78 was good for fifth, shattering the previous school record by over a second and qualified the team for the Heptagonals.
"I am very excited by this team, especially since only Kara will be graduating this year," Ford-Centonze said. "It will not be easy to replace her, but we do have three-quarters of the relay squad returning as well as a great class of incoming recruits who could fill in. I expect great things from them and look forward to seeing them continue their season at Heps."
The women's 4x800 relay team of Marcy Van Arnam '09, Laura Tabor '10 and Andrea Imhof '11 with Caitlin Cunningham '09 also performed well, posting an 11th-place time of 9:12.96, which qualified the team for Heps. Each athlete will also be returning next season to round out Dartmouth's strong core of women relay runners.
Tabor and Ali Smrcina '10 also had admirable performances in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, posting respective times of 10:53 and 10:59. These marks placed them second and fifth on Dartmouth's all-time record list. Tabor met the qualifying time for Heps, but Smrcina was just four seconds over the mark.
Aryn Gruneisen '09 ran a very fast 5000-meter race with a time of 17:42.
"This week was very important for us," Ford-Centonze said. "It has been our last opportunity before Heps to post our best times. After Sunday, everyone's lowest times will be used to determine seeds. Until Heps, we hope to continue improving in practice and keep times dropping."
The Heptagonal Ivy League Championship meet will be hosted by Yale this year and will take place on May 10-11.
