April 28, 2006
Philadelphia, Pa - The records keep falling for Stanford's women's distance runners at the Penn Relays.
On Friday, the Stanford women's 4 x 1500 meter relay team broke the American record and ran the second fastest collegiate time ever in racing to victory in a time of 17:18.63. The Cardinal women easily beat the old American record of 17:22.72 set by Wisconsin at the Penn Relays in 1990. Stanford just missed the collegiate record of 17:18.10 by Villanova at the Penn Relays in 1990. The school record was 17:36.66 by the team of Ashley Wysong, Malindi Elmore, Lauren Fleshman and Maurica Carlucci in 2002.
Amanda Trotter started the American record in motion with a time of 4:20.3. Trotter was followed by Lauren Centrowitz (4:18.9), Katy Trotter (4:24.1) and Arianna Lambie (4:15.3).
"Amanda (Trotter) pushed it in the beginning, Lauren (Centrowitz) ran a huge personal best and Katy (Trotter) and I just held it," said Lambie. "Coach (Peter Tegen) told us the school records were within reach. I didn't even know about the American record. I wasn't thinking about them. I just ran as fast as I could."
Centrowitz joins her father, Matt, as an American record holder. Matt set a U.S. record in the 5000 meters (13:12.91) in 1982. With that time, Matt is currently No. 9 on the U.S. all-time performers list.
"It's a great team to step onto and run with and be a part of history," said Centrowitz.
Katy Trotter and her twin sister, Amanda Trotter, were also happy with the results. "I really enjoy this relay," said Katy, "especially the quality team members and the atmosphere. I really love the Penn Relays."
"Coming from the East Coast this meet is really important to me," said Amanda. "It's one of our only meets on the East Coast and it's nice to come home, especially with the history here at the Penn Relays."
Just a day earlier, the long time Stanford record in the women's distance medley relay was broken, The old record, which was set by Sally Glynn, Danielle Spurlock, Lindsay Hyatt and Lauren Fleshman, stood at 11:06.23 for the past six years. But on Thursday afternoon at the Penn Relays, the Stanford team of Katy Trotter, Janice Davis, Ashley Freeman and Arianna Lambie established the new record in a time of 10:58.72.
Complete results are available at www.pennathletics.com
Men's Results
Distance Medley Relay: 1. Texas 9:33.10; 2. Arkansas 9:33.49; 3. Michigan 9:38.10; 7. Stanford (Lauren Jespersen-3:00.7; Michael Garcia-47.7; Joaquin Chapa-1:53.5; Russell Brown-3:56.2)
Women's Results
4 x 200 Meter Relay (Heats): 1. Tennessee 1:31.88; 2. Georgia Tech 1:34.04; 3. South Carolina 1:34.06; 5. Stanford (Ashley Purnell, Nashonme Johnson, Alana Walker, Chauntae Bayne-Hackett) 1:34.53
4 x 1500 Meter Relay: 1. Stanford (Amanda Trotter, Lauren Centrowitz, Katy Trotter, Arianna Lambie) 17:18.63; 2. Villanova 17:28.00; 3. North Carolina State 17:54.50
Triple Jump: Tabia Charles (Miami, Fl) 45-9 (13.94m); 2. Brittany Grovey (Brown) 43-5 1/4 (13.24m); 3. Yvette Lewis (Hampton) 43-3 (13.18m); 5. Erica McLain (Stanford) 42-10 3/4 (13.07m); 8. Deborah Akinniyi (S) 41-2 1/4 (12.55m)
Sprint Medley Relay: 1. Tennessee 3:45.16; 2. Miami (Fla) 3:46.34; 3. Cornell 3:48.41; 9. Stanford (Jakki Bailey, Alana Walker, Keisha Gaines, Ashley Freeman) 3:52.43