Photo of Elise Cranny from Stanford's winning 4x1,500 relay in 2015.
PHILADELPHIA – Stanford returns to the Penn Relays and expects to battle for victories in the 123rd renewal of the country's most popular track and field meet.
This will be Stanford's first Penn Relays appearance since 2015 when the Cardinal won the women's 4x1,500 relay. It was the second of back-to-back trips to Franklin Field, but before that, Stanford hadn't participated since 2008.
Two members of that winning 4x1,500 team – Rebecca Mehra and Elise Cranny -- are back on that team. And New Jersey native Olivia Baker has extensive Penn Relays experience, in high school and in college.
Stanford is scheduled to field three women's relay teams – the 4x1,500, 4x800, and distance medley – and the men are to run the 4x400.
Here is a closer look at the meet:
Penn Relays
When: Thursday-Saturday
Where: Philadelphia, Pa.
Site: Franklin Field
Established: 1895
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Follow the action:
Live results and Event Schedule: Click here.
TV schedule (Pacific time):
Friday: 2:30-3:30 p.m. (NBCSN).
Saturday: 9:30 a.m.-noon (NBCSN).
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Stanford's Schedule (all times Pacific):
Thursday
2:30 p.m.: Women's distance medley relay (Christina Aragon, Missy Mongiovi, Olivia Baker, Elise Cranny).
Friday
10:20 a.m.: Women's 4x1500 (Rebecca Mehra, Malika Waschmann, Christina Aragon, Elise Cranny).
1:20 p.m.: Men's 4x400 (Colin Dolese, Julian Body, Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Frank Kurtz).
Saturday
1:10 p.m.: Women's 4x800 relay (Malika Waschmann, Elise Cranny, Christina Aragon, Olivia Baker).
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All-Time Stanford Winners at Penn Relays:
2015: Women's 4x1,500 (Rebecca Mehra, Jessica Tonn, Elise Cranny, Claudia Saunders), 17:24.54.
2006: Women's 4x1500 (Amanda Trotter, Lauren Centrowitz, Katy Trotter, Arianna Lambie), 17:18.63.
2005: Women's 4x800 (Laura Mottaz, Arianna Lambie, Chinny Offor, Ashley Freeman), 8:32.02.
2005: Women's 4x1500 (Katy Trotter, Amanda Trotter, Sara Bei, Arianna Lambie), 17:38.16.
2005: Women's triple jump (Erica McLain), 43-9 ¼.
2004: Men's 5,000 (Grant Robison), 14:06.63.
2004: Women's 4x100 (Janice Davis, Nashonme Johnson, Christine Moschella, Ashley Purnell), 45.33.
2004: Women's 4x1500 (Katy Trotter, Katie Hotchkiss, Sara Bei, Arianna Lambie), 17:26.88.
2001: Men's 5,000 (Grant Robison), 13:57.01.
2001: Men's 4x800 (Ryan Carroll, Seth Hejny, Mark Hassell, Michael Stember), 7:19.39.
2001: Men's 4xMile (Seth Hejny, Donald Sage, Jonathan Riley, Michael Stember), 16:15.70.
2001: Men's discus (Omer Inan), 184-10.
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Women's DMR: The Cardinal was second in this event at the NCAA Indoor Championships this year with a team of Vanessa Fraser, Missy Mongiovi, Malika Waschmann, and Elise Cranny. Stanford's scheduled lineup includes Mongiovi and Cranny, with freshman Christina Aragon running leadoff and 2016 NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up Olivia Baker running that distance.
Women's 4x1500: In the Penn Relays, this is Stanford's marquee event, winning three consecutive years (2004-06) and breaking the American record (17:18.63) in 2006. Stanford won again in 2015. Elise Cranny and Rebecca Mehra return from that 2015 team. Cranny and freshman Christina Aragon ran sub-4:10 last year and reached the semifinals of the Olympic Trials. Cranny and Mehra went 1-2 at the Pac-12 Championships in this event. And Waschmann has a season-best of 4:17.46.
Men's 4x400: Stanford is reigning Pac-12 champion, winning the title in this event for the first time since 1954. Two members of that team are part of this one – Isaiah Brandt-Sims and new anchor Frank Kurtz. Two intermediate hurdlers -- Colin Dolese and freshman Julian Body – will run the first two legs.
Women's 4x800: Stanford is extremely deep in the 800 with eight runners holding personal-best times of under 2:06. The entire lineup of Malika Waschmann, Elise Cranny, Christina Aragon, and Olivia Baker has run 2:06.21 or faster this spring, led by Baker, the anchor, at 2:03.45. Baker is the reigning Pac-12 400 champ and was second at NCAA outdoors last year with a best of 2:01.02. Baker won High School Athlete of the Meet at Penn Relays in 2013 and 2014, with brilliant anchor legs in the 4x800 while at Columbia High in Maplewood, New Jersey.
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Penn Relays Overview: The Penn Relays is annually the best attended track and field meet in the U.S. and among the most highly-attended meet in the world. The three-day meet is expected once again to top 110,000 in total attendance and the Saturday competition regularly attracts 48,000 spectators to Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The meet, which began in 1895, is in its 123rd year and will have 22,000 entries, from youth to masters.
Historic Franklin Field: The Penn Relays are held between the venerable brick walls of Franklin Field, the 52,593-seat stadium built in 1895. Besides track and field, the stadium also is notable for other reasons. It was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1958-1970, the site of the 1960 NFL Championship game (a 17-13 Eagles victory over Green Bay and Vince Lombardi) and the place where Philadelphia fans cemented their merciless reputation by infamously booing and throwing snowballs at Santa Claus, at an Eagles game in 1968.
Stanford at Franklin Field: Besides its appearances at the Penn Relays, the Stanford men's track and field competed four times at the IC4A Championships at Franklin Field – in 1916, 1920, 1931, and 1934. Stanford won the team title in 1934, with individual victories by Al Blackman (400 meters), Gordon Dunn (discus), Sam Klopstock (200-meter low hurdles), and Johnny Lyman (shot put).