Lafayette track and field Coach Mel Jones was excited to announce he was bringing 15 of his athletes to this year’s Penn Relays, the largest and oldest track and field carnival in the country.
After returning from Pennsylvania on Sunday, Jones was even more enthusiastic to announce every one of his athletes who made the trip got on the track during some point of the three-day competition, which was a collection of mostly relay races and a few distance and field events.
“To be the best you have to compete against the best,” Jones said. “Altogether, this is one of the strongest groups of athletes Lafayette has had in a long time.”
In addition to being represented at the prestigious meet with the most athletes in the 40-year history of the school, the Rams also had three runners compete in certain events for the first time.
Kathryn Tomczak was the first female athlete in school history to qualify to compete in the pole vault, while Adrianna Hooks and Jason Menzies became the first athletes to compete in the 3,000 meter run.
Jones said senior standout Derek Holdsworth also gave a strong performance in three of the relays — the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×100 — including a blazing 10.90-second split in the 4×100 race.
Lafayette was the only local team that competed at the Penn Relays. Complete results can be viewed here, courtesy of milestat.com.
