The Hopkins women’s track team competed at the Penn Relays this past weekend in Philadelphia. The women’s 4x400 relay team won the Centennial/MAC conference division of the event.
Outpacing the field by nearly five seconds, the 4x400 team of sophomores Megan McDonald and Emily Nordquist, junior Ingrid Johnson and senior Maggie Shelton finished in 3:56.58 to top the field and post the fastest times for Hopkins in the event this outdoor season.
“It was actually my first time at Penn Relays, and it was so fun," Nordquist said. "It's such a different atmosphere from other track meets because it's huge. There are high schools, colleges and professionals. And both our men's and women's 4x4 teams got first in our heats, which is awesome.”
Shelton echoed her sentiments.
"It was great to win the men and women's 4x4," Shelton said. "It's one of the only meets of the year that we get hardware, so coming home with eight medals and two plaques was really nice. Also, there were some fabulous distance times and some potential and definite national qualifiers.”
Hopkins did extremely well in the Olympic Development women’s 5000-meter run. Sophomore Sophia Meehan turned in the top time of a Blue Jay this season, finishing the event with a time of 16:49.88. Meehan finished 11th overall, leading the Hopkins pack, which included junior Ashley Murphy in 18th, senior Abby Flock in 20th, sophomore Courtney Kelly in 22nd and freshman Tess Meehan in 28th place.
“Penn Relays is a really big and exciting meet," Sophia Meehan said. "We had a lot of girls run this year. In the 5k, all five girls that raced ran personal records, which made for a great night and will be great motivation going into conferences this weekend.”
According to Kelly, the experience itself was incredible.
“In a normal distance race, there would be around 20 girls, max," Kelly said. "We squeezed 40 into five lanes. It was pretty nerve-wracking. But then the race took off, and we proved ourselves, the Division III athletes in a race with actual professionals, to be big contenders. Everyone — Sophia Meehan, Ashley Murphy, Abby Flock, Tess Meehan and myself — dropped a huge amount of time and felt great doing it. Our hard year of training is all coming together. We’re all looking forward to winning conferences this weekend again and hopefully being able to represent Hopkins at NCAA Track Nationals later on.”
Flock discussed the team's preparation for the race, noting some advice from her coach.
“Before the race, [Head Coach Bobby Van Allen] told us to just worry about the last mile, since Penn Relays would run the first two miles for us," Flock said. "That advice was perfect, since we pretty much just stayed with the pack for the first 3000 and then all stayed strong for the last 2000. I was so happy to run this race with my teammates. We all pushed each other to run better than we ever have before, and it was a really great day for all of us.”
In the 10000 meter run, junior Grace Hancock finished in 36:06.06, a personal record, to finish 24th overall in a field of nearly all Division I runners. The time moves Hancock into the top 15 nationally ranked Division III runners and is the top time for a Hopkins runner in the event this season.
“Penn Relays is an awesome meet, and I don't think we could've asked for better conditions," Hancock said. "I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, i.e. conferences, this weekend.”
In the shot put, senior Emily Swenson finished eighth overall in another field predominantly full of Division I athletes. She tossed 13.21 meters, ranking her 10th in the nation across Division III for the event.
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