PENN RELAYS MEN'S PREVIEW

The 116th running of the Penn Relays is finally this weekend. Arguably the greatest meet ran on American soil is finally here. For track fans the carnival is a three day celebration of the sport. This year there are plenty of big story lines including Usain Bolt anchoring the men's 4x100 relay for Jamaica. Here at tracknerd our focus is on the great collegiate races that will take place this weekend.


RELAYS

The beauty of the Penn Relays is that this meets main focus in the overall team aspect. Its rare that track and field gets to show the team aspect when the world strongly eyes indivuduals. In America at times it has seem to hurt the sport since our country is crazed about team sports. In the collegiate ranks that team feeling is intensified. There are plenty of great well rounded teams with the goal of winning the NCAA title, this meet allows those teams a great chance to measure up in key events.

The 4x100 relay Championship of America should be a very interesting race, defending champion Texas A&M will look to continue their success here. The Florida Gators looks to carry over their success from a solid home showing to the Penn Relays were they are ranked number 1 in all the sprint relay events. LSU whose historic program is known for solid relays hopes to continue their historic success. The Florida Gators are favored to win it because of their depth in the event. The Gators are currently the only team under 39 seconds.

The 4x200 and 4x400 Championship of America races will be a battle of heavy weights. The Florida Gators and Texas A&M will battle for bragging rights and two big victories in these races. Although the Gators did not perform well in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Indoor Championship meet, this outdoor season they have already ran one of the fastest times in NCAA History and the fastest time since 2005. The Gators clocked in 3:00.31 while the Aggies of A&M won the Texas Relays in 3:01.55. The 4x200 relay will be equally as interesting, could we possibly see a sub 1:20 performance from one of these great programs, it's possible. The Gators set a school record clockin in at 1:20.38 to win the Florida Relays while Aggies won the Texas Relays in 1:20.61 over Mississippi State (1:21:09). Stars to keep an eye on, for Floida Jeffrey Demps and senior Calvin Smith. The Aggie stars include Curtis Mitchell and Gerald Phiri.

The 4X800 and 4x1,600 has some added excitement this season. The Oregon Ducks travel from out west to challenge consistent champions Arkansas, Michigan, Virginia and Texas. The Ducks are loaded with talent and should be favored to win both events. Andrew Wheating should lead the way for the Ducks in both. Penn State will challenge the Ducks for 4x800 crown with their solid crew of 800 meter runners who all run under 1:50. The Michigan Wolverines want their national record back in the 4x1,600 relay. The Oregon Ducks broke the National record last season on their home turf with Andrew Wheating leading the way. Expect for the Wolverines to challenge the Ducks for the crown.

The Medley Relay events will also be interesting. The Oregon Ducks will be candidates for the win in both. LSU and Florida will certainly provide a challenge in the sprint medley, while Michigan and Texas look to challenge the Ducks in the distance medley relay. Unfortunately for the Ducks Ashton Eaton is not competing. LSU's three sub 1:50 800 runners should also be considered a challenger to the Ducks.

INDIVIDUAL RACES

The 100 meter dash is one of the key individual races at the Penn Relays. Florida's Jeffrey Demps, Auburn's Harry Adams and Marcus Rowland and Florida State's Maurice Mitchell look to challenge Demps for the crown. Demps clocked in 10.11 the fast wind legal time in the country and is favorite to win it.

The 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles should be dominated by South Carolina. Booker Nunley in the 110 hurdles and Johnny Dutch in the 400 hurdles are the key individuals in both those races. Joining Nunley in the 110 hurdles is LSU's Barret Nugent and Texas Tech's Omo Osaghae. In the 400 hurdles Dutch is alone at the top in the race their is the possiblity that injured hurdle star William Wynne of Florida could shock the worl but its unlikely that it will happen or Wynne may not even compete.

The most intersting distance race is the men's 5,000 which will feature Andrew Bumbalough of Georgetown who has ran 13:30 earlier this season. Bumbalough should see a challenge from Jean-Pierre Weerts of Auburn and Craig Forys of Michigan. Harry Miller of William & Mary college looks to be the winner in the men's 3,000 steeplechase having already ran 8:53.

The jumping events feature three NCAA indoor champions. Christian Taylor of Florida in the men's triple jump and Arkansas senior Alain Bailey in the long jump. Taylor should challenge Bailey for the long jump title, Taylor is a 26 foot jumper but has not had the same success that he has had in the triple jump so far in college. Zedric Thomas of LSU is also a challenger in both jumps. NCAA Indoor Champion in the high jump Derek Drouin of Indiana is a easy favorite to claim the crown.

Joe Berry of Tennessee is the defeding champion in the men's pole vaut, he will be challeged by Drouin's teammate Jeff Coover.

In the throws Walter Henning of LSU is the lone returning champion. Henning the winner in the men's hammer throw currently leads the NCAA with a mark of 239-5. Freshman star and former rival Conor McCullough of Princeton will strongly challenge Henning for the title.

The Shot Put has Kemal Mesic's name written all over it and is a huge peice in the Gator's NCAA title hopes.

Other favorites include John Austin of Duke for the Javelin and James Plummer of Rutgers in the Discus.

It has finally arrived and I cannot wait until it gets started. This weekends races will be held live on Flotrack.com. This should be an exciting weekend in every level of track and field. Our next post will have a women's Penn Relay Preview.