The Penn State men's track and field team will head to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in one of the most renowned and best attended track events in the United States.
The Nittany Lions will compete against the best college athletes from across the country at the historic Penn Relays today through Saturday at Franklin Field on the outskirts of UPenn.
The atmosphere of this weekend will more closely resemble a college football game than a track and field meet. It will be a sharp contrast to the much smaller crowds that the Lions are accustomed to competing in front of.
"There's just nothing like it," Penn State head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "The stadium is full of 30,000 or 40,000 people. It just gets wild and crazy in there and it's just a phenomenal showcase of our sport."
Jennifer Werner is an associate director of athletic communications at the University of Pennsylvania. She estimated, depending on the weather for the weekend, that the Penn Relays will likely draw between 100,000 and 120,000 fans. On Saturday alone, Franklin Field will have between 40,000 and 50,000 fans.
With the Lions' large fan base in Philadelphia, there will be plenty of Penn State faithful in attendance. Mix in the fact that parents who come to watch their children compete in high school events are Penn State alumni or fans, and a lot of the crowd will be likely to cheer for the Lions.
"Just the fact that we are Penn State at the Penn Relays is a unique situation," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're not UPenn, but we're the in-state school and people love to cheer for the blue-and-white, and it is just tremendous for us."
The high school and college events makeup the majority of the 22,000 entries to the Penn Relays, there are also Olympic development events that bring in some high profiled athletes. The current 100 meter world-record holder, Asafa Powell, competed in last year's relays.
The meet also brings in a large international contingency to Philadelphia, especially from the Caribbean region.
"The [Penn] Relays are like the Jamaican Super Bowl," Werner said. "Right now is the time to go to Jamaica because everyone will be at the [Penn] Relays."
With all the hoopla that surrounds the Penn Relays it could be easy to get caught up in the atmosphere. But, Alford-Sullivan believes that her Lions are focused on the task at hand.
The Lions have toned down their training this week in preparation for the long weekend, but the energy at practice has been high for such an important meet.
With the championship season a little more than two weeks away, the Nittany Lions are looking to use the Penn Relays as a catalyst for the rest of the season.
"This is just one of those moments were you have to rise to the occasion and rise to the challenge of the atmosphere, and that's what happens at championships too," Alford-Sullivan said. "We really try to utilize it as one of our peak moments in the season. We got to come in and be ready to go and get after it."
Penn State decathletes got the Penn Relays started with a bang. Chris Morrisey (7,014 points), Shawn Colligan (6,781 points) and James Myles (6,391 points) claimed the top three places in the six athlete field.
The decathlon sweep coupled with a victory by Penn State graduate Chris Nirschel (Fall '06) in the 20K Distance Classic on Sunday have helped the Nittany Lions get off to a good start heading into the weekend.
"Penn State's made its mark already," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're using that as motivation for everybody as we get started up."
The decathlon started Tuesday with Myles claiming the best marks in the 100 meter dash and the long jump, while Morrisey had the best high jump and the first day lead.
Yesterday, Myles had the best time in the 110-meter hurdles, Morrisey had the best jump in the pole vault and Colligan had the best throw in the javelin.
Morrisey held off his teammates for a comfortable victory and his point total was good enough for a regional provisional mark.
"Winning the Penn Relays is a rare opportunity," Alford-Sullivan said. "Getting the NCAA provisional was one of his goals and the 7,000 point barrier break was a goal. He just really pulled it off, and it's just sparking him more for the Big Ten Championships."
