IU travels east to Philadelphia for Penn Relays

Many members of the IU track and field team will experience an environment unlike any they have ever encountered when the team travels to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays this weekend.

The Penn Relays are unique to collegiate track and field in that attendance levels can reach up to 50,000 fans.

Several Hoosiers will be making their first trip to this meet and haven’t ever competed in front of that many people.

“It’s an awesome atmosphere,” Associate Head Coach Jeff Huntoon said. “It’s a setting unlike anything else in the world quite honestly.”

This will be the 119th running of the Penn Relays, where the relay race is said to have been invented. It is the longest uninterrupted annual track meet in the world.

There are hundreds of individual event heats, but the relays are what made this meet famous, and the “Championship of America” relay finals are the preeminent prize in collegiate track outside of a national title.

“Any relay that’s going has an opportunity to try to qualify for a Championship of America heat or has already qualified,” Huntoon said. “We wanted to make sure people know Indiana is there and get our name called a lot.”

Two returning Hoosiers took titles at last year’s event, seniors Derek Drouin and Zach Mayhew, but only Drouin will get a chance to defend his.

Mayhew won last year’s 5,000-meter title, but will be running exclusively in relays this year.

“I was really looking forward to (defending it) at the beginning of the year, but I think the relays are a whole new opportunity,” Mayhew said. “The closer we get, the more excited I get about the relays because that’s what the whole meet is about.”

Mayhew, normally a distance runner, isn’t a regular relay contributor, but will run the 1,200-meter leg in the distance medley relay.

He has never run a 1,200 event in competition, but he said he’s still confident to put a good leg together.

“I really need to make sure my legs are fresh this weekend,” Mayhew said. “I need to have that extra explosiveness in shorter races.”

Drouin will attempt to defend his high jump title, but also will run in an event unique to the Penn Relays – the shuttle hurdles.

The men’s hurdlers will run 110 meters down the track until they cross the line, queuing the next runner to do the same thing in the opposite direction. There are four legs in the race.

“If you asked Derek Drouin what he’s more excited about, the high jump or the shuttle hurdle relay, I guarantee he’d say the shuttle hurdles,” Huntoon said. “Individuals get brought up on the award stand, but to have a team go up there is even more important.”

Huntoon said it’s important to the team that it goes to the Penn Relays and represents itself well on that big stage, but the team is still taking quite a few athletes with it.

“If we didn’t think we could go there and be of a certain quality, we wouldn’t be going,” Huntoon said. “It’s about going and making sure we’re getting our name called in the right way.”