Firebirds Battle Cold Temperatures and Heavy Competition at 2016 Penn Relays
PHILADELPHIA - Competing in another weekend of less than favorable weather, the University of the District of Columbia women's outdoor track & field team stepped up to the challenge with gritty performances at the renowned Penn Relays Carnival.
The three day meet got off to an early start for the Firebirds with a full day of competition on Thursday, opening up with the College Section of the Women's High Jump. Freshman Saida Burns-Moore cleared 1.59M, which was 30th of 39 competitors in the event.
The Firebirds then braved the elements and headed to the track for the 4x100M Relay, with the quartet of Stacy-Ann Rowe, Jasmine Walker, Brittany Okon and Simone Grant turning in a season-best performance and finishing 2nd in Heat 7 with a time of 47.85s. They would earn a silver medal for the runner-up spot in their section of the event, and finish an impressive 36th overall among 86 competitors. Even more impressive was their placing as the 6th fastest non-Division I program on the day in the event.
"For us to run our fastest time [in the 4x100M Relay] all season in the cold and rainy conditions Thursday afternoon speaks to the quality of the performance," head coach Alton McKenzie said. "I was extremely happy with the effort of the [relay] team. We had very clean relay exchanges, and that certainly contributed to our impressive performance."
The momentum from that relay would carry over to College section of the Women's Long Jump. Senior Simone Grant closed out her Penn Relays Field event participation with a big performance. She would jump a personal best on her very first jump - an impressive 5.78M. That would be her best jump of the day, but one that was very significant as it would place her 3rd best in the Women's College section among 45 competitors in the event.
The Firebirds would close out their busy Thursday in the 4x400M Relay, where the team of Jerily Benjamin, Jasmine Walker, Marlena Wright and Simone Grant finished 6th in Heat 7 with a time of 4:02.47s.
Friday at the Penn Relays saw several Firebirds returning to action to compete in the 4x200M Heats. The team of Jasmine Walker, Simone Grant, Brittany Okon and Jerily Benjamin ran a very competitive race to finish 6th in Heat 3 in a time of 1:42.74s. This time would place the Firebirds 33rd among 52 teams competing in the event.
McKenzie explained that the team has had to deal with less than ideal weather all season, so the conditions at Penn Relays was simply "par for the course."
"The will to compete is what matters, and I felt we exemplified that concept in all the events we entered, but especially in the 4x100M Relay and Simone in the Long Jump," McKenzie said. "I'm very proud of the group that represented the University of the District of Columbia at this year's Penn Relays, and we will look to continue being appreciative of the privilege of competing at the oldest and largest track & field competition in the United States, and oldest and largest Relay Carnival in the world."
A few Firebirds will look to extend their season with potential NCAA qualifying marks as May approaches.