Slaney Wins Penn Mile; Mawindi Jumps To 2nd

Mary Slaney, applauded by her competitors before the race, rewarded them and the 46,216 fans at Franklin Field with a dazzling display of running.

Belying her 38 years, the indefatigable Slaney made her first appearance in the Penn Relays a memorable one Saturday, winning the invitational mile in 4 minutes, 26.10 seconds, eclipsing the meet record of 4:33.06 set by Alissa Harvey in 1986.

Slaney went out fast and strong, but after the first quarter-mile, she slowed because of the swirling winds.

“I was running (out front) by myself … but I had to slow down because of the wind,” Slaney said.

Hilary Mawindi of Washington State University placed second in the men’s triple jump.

Mawindi, a junior from Zimbabwe, jumped 50 feet, 6 inches. Winner Michael McDuffie of UNC-Wilmington jumped 50-10-3/4.

At the relays, competition is divided into college, college championship and Olympic development. WSU’s athletes were all in college competitions.

The Cougars men’s 3,200 relay team of Eric Kamau, Rasto Kiplangat, Bernard Lagat and Ryan Ollerman finished fourth in 7 minutes, 21.04 seconds.

WSU’s women’s sprint medley relay team of Sharika Higgins, LaTroya Mucker, Tamika Brown and Alishia Booterbaugh ran 3:55.29 for 12th place. Texas won in 3:44.47.

Higgins, Mucker, Brown and Attrina Higgins were disqualified in the women’s 800 relay.

Villanova’s women’s team completed a sweep of the three distance relays, adding the 3,200-meter title to the 6,000-meter and distance medley championships it won earlier in the meet.

Krestena Sullivan anchored the winning relay for the third consecutive day for the Wildcats, who were timed in 8:27.66.

Arkansas, the most dominant men’s team in the distance races in recent years, won the 6,000-meter relay in 15:02.08 as sophomore Seneca Lassiter outdueled senior Kevin Sullivan of Michigan over the final 200 meters.

Arkansas’ bid for a sweep of the men’s distance races was foiled by Georgetown, which won the 3,200-meter relay in 7:20.95.

Louisiana State, winner of the women’s 400-meter relay Friday, completed a sweep of the sprint relays, taking the 800 relay in 1:31.29, breaking the Penn Relays record.

LSU’s men also won the 800-meter relay, clocking 1:21.50.

Texas A&M’s men’s 400-meter relay team of Mike Price, Toya Jones, Billy Fobbs and Danny McCray won in 38.92, the second-fastest time ever by a college team at the Penn Relays, behind only Texas Christian’s 38.80 in 1991.

, DataTimes