The winning 4x400 (Photo Kim Spir)

Certainly it would be tough for the men to duplicate the excitement of the women’s race, but that’s exactly what happened.

The Bahamas and the USA red team led at the cut-in, with Grenada hanging tough at the handoff.  Bershawn Jackson opened a good lead on the third leg, and Angelo Taylor brought it home in 3:02.40.  Chris Brown of the Bahamas ran a 44 split to bring his team all the way to second place.

The winning team consisted of Quentin Summers, Jamal Torrence, Bershawn Jackson, and Angelo Taylor.  12 full years now separate Taylor’s first victory as the anchor of Georgia Tech’s winning 4×400 in 1998 and today’s great race.

We also believe that the third place 3:04.69 by Grenada was a national record.

Sanya does it again (photo by Kim Spir)

Sanya Richards-Ross may not have had the fastest split, but she proved she still knows how to race. The world champion held off charges from both USA Blue’s Monica Hargrove and Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer to give USA Red the win, in 3:22.92.

USA Red had the early lead, but USA Blue’s first two legs, Dee Dee Trotter, Francena McCoroy kept in close. In fact, McCoroy ran an outstanding 49.8 split to pass Allyson Felix and hand off in the lead.

The two American teams had a comfortable lead on the Jamaicans at the final exchange, but Spencer tore down the backstretch en route to a 50.59 split. In the end, Richards-Ross had enough left to give USA Red the victory, with USA Blue (3:23.17) and Jamaica (3:23.82) close behind.

Another race goes down to the wire (photo by Kim Spir)

Kenya’s Glibert Kipchoge took the lead early on the opening leg, with Bernard Lagat (USA Red) and Ryan Gregson (Australia) right behind. Lagat moved into the lead just past 800, with Mohammed Moustaoui (Morocco) pulling even to hand off nearly even (Lagat was technically first, with a 2:48.30 split.) David Torrence of USA Blue and Australia’s Ryan Gregson were right behind, while the other teams had lost contact.

Sean Wroe (45.95) moved well on the 400 leg to put Australia into second, right behind the U.S., with Morocco a close third.

USA indoor 800 champ Duane Solomon and Lachlan Renshaw battled on the 800 leg, with the American making the final hand off half a step ahead, both teams 10 meters clear of Morocco.

On the anchor Australia’s Jeff Riseley followed American Russell Brown through a slow pace, which allowed Morocco’s Amine Laalou and USA Blue’s Leo Manzano to catch up, making it a four-man race at the bell. Laalou, a finalist in the 800 at the last two world championships, zipped by on the homestretch, holding off Riseley with a 3:53.09 split as Brown faded to third. Morocco clocked in at 9:17.48 to Australia’s 9:17.56.

Jamaica's fab four celebrate another victory (photo by Kim Spir)

The Jamaican men continued their dominance in the men’s 4×100, winning for the second time in a row and the third time in four years. Asafa Powell, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Steve Mullings took the victory in 38.33, with USA Red (Walter Dix, Wallace Spearmon, Trell Krimmons, MIke Rodgers) second in 38.43.

Carmelita Jeter crosses the line for USA Red (photo by Kim Spir)

The U.S. women showed their sprint depth in the 4×100 with a 1-2 finish in the USA vs the World race. Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix, Marshevet Myers, Carmelita Jeter (aka USA Red) got the baton around the track first and fastest, in a meet record 42.28. (The previous mark, 42.33, was set by a U.S. team way back in 2000.)

The USA Blue team (Gloria Asumnu, Miki Barber, Bianca Knight, Alex Anderson) clocked in at impressive 42.64 for second, with Jamaica (42.74), despite having Olympic 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on the achor leg.

Sinclair brings it home once again (photo by Kim Spir)

Kenia Sinclair did it again, anchoring Jamaica to victory in the USA vs The World women’s sprint medley for the fourth year in a row. Tennessee grad Phoebe Wright gave good chase for USA Red, but couldn’t close the gap on Sinclair, who was clearly energized by the hearty Jamaican presence in the crowd. Jamaica’s time was 3:34.64, just off their own meet (and world!) record of 3:34.56, from 2009.

Jamaica’s line-up was Simone Facey and Kerron Stewart on the 200s, Melaine Walker on the 400 and Sinclair, who split a phenomenal 1:57.06 on the 800.

Kenia Sinclair (Seton Hall, Jamaica)

“I have been running in the Penn Relays since high school and it has always been an exciting meet. Just to come out here and perform for the Jamaican fans and just give them what they want and just go there and focus on myself and do what I have to do and I’ll be successful. Since high school there was not any good memories here at the Penn Relays. Always coming to race in the Penn Relays tends to freak us out and in the crowd. It gets better as the races goes on.”

Sanya Richards-Ross (Texas, USA)

“I suffered an injury here last year at the Penn Relays in my quad and I tried to recover in time for Nationals in June but wasn’t successful so I took the reminder of the season off. I feel great. I feel fresh. This is going to be my first year running not coming off a season of running eight or nine 400 hundreds, so hopefully it will payoff and I’ll be more fresh . I am not putting too much pressure on myself for the first half of the season to get back and get in the swing of things and hopefully round out into shape just in time for the world championships.    Allyson and I have been competitive for a long time and I think we have a great deal of respect for each other . I don’t think our decisions will be based on if she decides or if I decide. I am going to make a decision based on how my training is going and how successful my season has been this year. Hopefully we compete against each other in the Olympics, just like we did in high school and throughout our career.”

Phoebe Wright (Tennessee, USA)

“I was kind of worried about the transition from going from a collegiate to a professional. My coach has helped me be accountable pretty much everyday, multiple hours a day making sure I’ve been on track. We set out goals and it’s been a surprise, but it’s also meetings expectations as well.  I love Penn. And I love having a team and purpose behind the team. This is the perfect combination for a good race.”

Also, a few quotes from a few members of the Philadelphia Flyers who stopped by to check out the races:

This is my first year at the Penn Relays. I am just here to see how it all works. It looks pretty interesting.  The hurdles are pretty fun. They are pretty aggressive. It is pretty cool to look at how they are in shape. It is pretty interesting.” -Andrea Nodl

“I don’t think I could run the hurdles. I used to do a little track and field when I was in high school but I stuck to the javelin, the easy events but I am not a runner.” -Dan Carcillo

“I have never been to the Penn Relays. I have been in Philly for awhile and I have always heard about it. It is something that we heard about and we had to chance to come check it out and it is pretty neat.”-Jeff Carter

Well, the 2010 Penn Relays have come to a close, but the memories of an electrifying Saturday afternoon will long live on.

As the crowd swelled early, Franklin Field had a unique feel of anticipation. The place erupted when Usain Bolt and his Jamaican teammates walked onto the infield to stretch and warm up. “It was so loud,” said USA runner Miki Barber, “I thought, ‘Is the president here?’”

Nope. Just the world’s fastest man. And he was just as appreciative of the crowd, which largely consists of fans with deep Jamaica roots.

“The crowd always has been wonderful,” Bolt said after leading the Green & Gold to a record time of 37.90 in the USA vs. the World 4×100-meter relay. “I haven’t been here in a while, so I was really looking forward to it. It was just awesome. It was a wonderful feeling. There’s nothing like a home crowd for me. So the experience was wonderful. I love running here.”

Here is how it was covered by the media:

Usain Bolt electrifies the Penn Relays (Washington Post)
Lightning Bolt (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Bolt Draws Crowd and Delivers a Record at Penn Relays (New York Times)
Scorching run by Bolt (Jamaica Gleaner)
Bolt-mania spills over as Jamaica wins 4x100m (NBC Universal)
Hearts Racing (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Bolt dazzles at Penn Relays (Sports Illustrated)

Versatile Allyson Felix anchors the USA 4x400 (Photo Kim Spir)

Debbie Dunn opened up a big lead for USA Blue on the first leg, which Lashinda Demus maintained, despite a challenge from Jamaica’s Novlene Williams. Same thing on the third leg: Dee Dee Trotter (USA Blue) held off Kaliese Spencer (Jamaica). USA Blue’s Allyson Felix wrapped things up easily on the anchor 3:26.12.

(Note: Sanya Richards-Ross was scheduled to run for the U.S., but she strained her quadricep while working out yesterday and had to scratch.)

Full results can be found here.

Full results can be found here.