Yared Nuguse, Oliver Hoare, Eric Holt Surpass Tony Waldrop As Penn's Fastest Milers; Liam Murphy Leads Villanova To No. 2 4xMile In History; Washington Women Run 8:17 In 4x800

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

PHILADELPHIA – Tony Waldrop has been referenced as the men's mile record holder at the Penn Relays for a half century.

The former University of North Carolina standout ran a remarkable 3 minutes, 53.2 seconds at Franklin Field back at the 1974 relays.

But in 2024, a new benchmark has been set. Yared Nuguse of On Athletics ran into Penn Relays history on Saturday in Philadelphia, clocking 3:51.06 in the men’s Olympic Development field on the final day of competition at the 128th edition of the meet.

INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS by John Nepolitan

Nuguse’s time also set a Franklin Field record, besting Irish great Eamonn Coghlan’s time of 3:52.88 from 1979.

The American indoor record holder held off On Athletics teammate Oliver Hoare (3:51.28) and American Eric Holt (3:51.46) over the final 100 meters as all three managed to dip under Waldrop's record.

“That last 100, everything is filled with emotions,” Nuguse said. “Like, keep going, keep going, keep going.”

Paced early on by defending Penn Relays mile champion and On teammate Geordie Beamish through the first few laps, Nuguse and Hoare remained connected with each other through the first two laps, with Holt pressing during that time. 

In the second half, racing got intense.

“Once things started picking up, it became a race,” Nuguse said. 

Heading into the final straightaway, Nuguse and Hoare were shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. Holt was close behind, but ran out of real estate as the On teammates made it a 1-2 sweep.

Sage Hurta-Klecker added to the success for On, winning the women’s Olympic Development 1,500 minutes before Nuguse and Hoare took to the track. The former Colorado Buffalo closed in 66.51 over the final 400 to beat fellow American Helen Schlachtenhaufen by a margin of 4:07.10 to 4:07.73.

“I felt good for a lot of it, but I wasn’t as locked in as I hoped,” Hurta-Klecker said. “I just really wanted to rely on the strength that I have and my kick and just go out there and win it.”

Nozomi Tanaka, representing Japan, finished a second behind the Americans for third in 4:08.32, with Yolanda Ngarambe, representing Sweden, running 4:09.01 for fourth.

Former Penn standout Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts earned fifth overall in 4:10.32.

Festus Lagat, representing Kenya, came from behind the last 200 meters to win the men’s Olympic Development 800 in 1:46.76, defeating Mario Garcia Romo, representing Spain, in 1:47.18.

Dorcus Ewoi, representing Kenya, ran 2:02.49 to win the women’s Olympic Development 800. Ajee' Wilson of adidas ran 2:02.88 for second.

Jamaica swept the men’s and women’s Olympic Development 400 races, with Karayme Bartley winning the men’s race in 46.43 and Leah Anderson winning the women’s race in 52.48.

Villanova Leads Three 4xMile Teams Under 16-Minute Barrier

The Villanova men’s 4xMile team and the Washington women’s 4x800 broke collegiate records to highlight a full day of Championship of America college finals.

A day after anchoring Villanova to another distance medley relay title, Liam Murphy anchored the Wildcats in 3:54.32 to run 15:51.91, besting Oregon’s collegiate record of 16:03.24 from 2009.

Virginia and Georgetown also ran under the former collegiate record, with the Cavaliers running 15:52.30 to place second and the Hoyas running 15:52.56 for third. 

All three teams ran under the Penn Relays record of 16:04.54 set by Michigan at the 2005 meet.

Chloe Foerster guided the Washington women with a 2:02.17 anchor leg to run 8:17.28 to best Villanova’s 2013 collegiate record of 8:17.45.

Washington withstood Providence after the Friars led for majority of the race until Shannon Flockhart dropped the baton in the final 50 meters and crossed the finish line without noticing she dropped it, resulting in disqualification.

Duke, who was third at the time before Providence was disqualified, moved into second with a time of 8:28.37.

Texas A&M won both the men’s 4x800 and 4x400 Championship of America races in strong attempts to break a pair of meet records.

Sam Whitmarsh anchored in 1:45.02 for the 4x800 team to finish in 7:13.98, just two seconds off Penn State’s 1985 meet record time of 7:11.17. 

Ahmed Robinson closed in 44.79 on the anchor for the 4x400 team to win in 3:01.52, finishing within .42 tenths off Florida’s 2004 record of 3:01.10.

South Florida men’s 4x100 ended Houston’s four-year streak of Championship of America titles, winning at the line by a margin of 39.34-39.35.

North Carolina State won its first 4x1500 Championship of America title in 17:03.29, beating both Virginia (17:08.05) and Penn State (17:09.59).

Ohio State’s women’s 4x100 team held off TCU in the final meters to capture the Championship of America title in 43.92. Anchor Janela Spencer also won the women’s 100 hurdles for the Buckeyes, winning in 13.01.

Houston’s De’Vion Wilson ran 13.38 to claim the men’s 110 hurdles title, with Louie Hinchliffe also winning the men’s 100 final for the Cougars in 10.21.

TCU’s Iyana Gray won the women’s 100 championship in 11.35.

Penn completed a 1-2 finish in the men’s pole vault competition, with James Rhoads winning at 17 feet, 7 inches (5.36m) and Scott Toney in second at 17-3 (5.26m).

Rutgers’ Chloe Timberg dominated the women’s pole vault field, clearing 15-1 (4.60m) to win by almost two feet.

Clemson’s Marie Forbes returned to the throwing ring two days after winning the women’s hammer competition to win the discus championship with a throw of 177-8 (54.15m).

Virginia’s Jacob Lemmon won the men’s discus with a throw of 197-11 (60.04m).

David Friedberg of Reinhardt, a two-time NAIA national champion, threw the javelin 242-4 (73.86m) to claim the men’s championship title.

TCU’s Maria Bienvenu threw the javelin 167-4 (51.00m), winning the women’s competition by six inches over Maryland’s Kayla Thorpe at 166-10 (50.86m).

Notre Dame’s Michael Shoaf prevailed in finals of the men’s shot put championship, beating Clemson’s Courtney Lawrence with a throw of 63-6.25 (19.36m).

Raymond Richards of University Tech of Jamaica defeated Penn State’s Isaac Osifo for the men’s high jump title, jumping 7-1.5 (2.17m).

Villanova’s Roschell Clayton cleared 6-0 (1.83m) to capture the women’s high jump title.

Rutgers’ Sincere Robinson hit 25-4 (7.72m) to win the men’s long jump.

UConn’s A’liyah Thomas won the women’s long jump with a mark of 20-10.75 (6.37m).

Arizona State’s Kiara Lee held on to win by two inches in the women’s triple jump championship with a mark of 42-8.25 (13.01m) to Albany’s Leann Nicholas’ 42-6.25 (12.96m).

Norfolk’s Isaac Haywood collected the men’s title with a mark of 51-6.5 (15.71m).