Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Penn Relays Preview 2017- Men

(Houston 4x100 Relay)

Is this meet going to be dominated by Houston, Penn State or a Jamaican school namely UTech of C.G. Foster? That is the real question. The University of Houston and Penn State University have two very strong teams capable of winning multiple events at this meet. Like the women’s preview we will focus primarily on the relays and the top seeds.

4x100 Relay

The past four years in a row a Jamaican school has won this event. UTech claimed the first victory wining in 2013 through 2015 and last season C.G. Foster claimed victory. This year they are one of the top two entrants. C.G. Foster still has quite an impressive team but in this race will be the Houston Cougars. Houston currently ranked number two in the NCAA with a time of 38.59 is listed slightly ahead of C.G. Foster. This should be quite the battle since it includes stud Cameron Burrell.

4x200 Relay
South Carolina won this event last season surprising the favorite UTech who made a misstep during one of their exchanges. South Carolina returns an equally impressive team that also includes the number one ranked 200 meter runner in the NCAA currently in Ncincilili Titi. They enter as the top seed and close behind them will be a strong Houston team.

4x400 Relay
Houston is involved in this race too. They are currently the top performing team amongst this group this season with a time of 3:04.38. Penn State and Clemson will most certainly give chase but this could be the first sprint sweep ever by the Houston Cougars. Penn State’s time of 3:04.80 indoors should be the stronger of the two challengers. Penn State can use this as a coming out of sorts since they have not ran their "A" team together this outdoor season. 

4x800 Relay
Penn State has won this relay here a total of 8 times and has the number one time ever ran at the meet set in 1985. It is one of the oldest relay records at the Penn. They bring another strong group this year and are in good position to go back to back. They will be led by NCAA leader Isaiah Harris and will face a strong Virginia Tech squad that includes senior Drew Piazza.

4xMile Relay
The top three teams listed in this event all possess great depth at the mile distance, they include Penn, Indiana and Michigan. During the indoor season the Michigan men had three guys able to run a sub 4 minute mile. They will be challenged by a strong veteran group from Penn and their conference foe Indiana who has a young but talented group. Michigan has won this event 15 times and has the Penn Relays record.

Sprint Medley Relay
Perhaps no team is more prepared for this event than the top two seeds, Penn State and Clemson. Both schools are great at developing 800 meter runners and possess the sprint speed to compete a high level. The sprint medley however is truly determined by having a strong 800 runner. Penn State has the top guy in the NCAA on their side putting them in great position to win.

Distance Medley Relay 
Indiana had an All-American season indoors and dominated the Big Ten conference. That success should continue and they are currently one of the top seeds heading into the meet. Penn State is listed as number one but was unable to defeat the Hoosiers indoors at the Big Ten conference. With Indian’s impressive group of distance runners they are in great position to pull off the victory over Penn State thanks to their talented sophomore Joseph Murphy.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay Relay

This event has been dominated by Tennessee historically with a total of 15 victories. However they have not won this event since 2005 and are not competing this season. Curtis Frye the head coach for South Carolina has won quite a few Penn Relays title in this event including having the top time all time at this meet. He brings an impressive group this year lead by junior Isaiah Moore. Houston however is listed as the top seed and will be led by super sophomore Amere Lattin. This is one five events that Houston is in contention to win. 

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