A look back at The Penn Relays and its hometown

Apr 22, 2015

A look back at The Penn Relays and its hometown

Patrick Maynard 0 Comment Sports Philadelphia, track and field

The 121st running of the Penn Relays starts Thursday in Philadelphia.

: 2014 caption: Judges and meet volunteers sit in a reserved area. The University of Pennsylvania hosts the three-day meet. || Baltimore Sun file photo by Patrick Maynard

: 2014 caption: Coppin State track athlete Christina Epps competes at the 2014 Penn Relays. Photo courtesy of Coppin State athletics.

: 2014 caption: Penn Relays 2014 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia — A heat of the 4x400m relay is run on day two. The Mount Saint Mary’s track team placed 2nd in the heat. || Baltimore Sun file photo by Patrick Maynard

: 2014 caption: Penn Relays 2014 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia — The USNA 4×400 team waits in a holding area before a heat of the event. || Baltimore Sun file photo by Patrick Maynard

: Penn Relays 2014 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia — Runners line up for a heat of the college-level 4×400 relay. || Baltimore Sun file photo

: 2012 caption: Autumn Franklin of McDonogh School (Md.) places third in the girls 400m hurdles in 59.94 in the 118th Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
Credit: Kirby Lee – Image of Sport – US PRESSWIRE

: 2012 caption: Diamond Thomas takes the handoff from Traci Hicks on the third leg of the Long Beach Poly girls 4 x 100m relay that had the top time of 46.39 in the 118th Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
Credit: Kirby Lee – Image of Sport – US PRESSWIRE

: 2012 caption: Philadelphia, PA, USA; Alexis Franklin of Old Mill (Md.) wins the girls 400m hurdles in 59.05 in the 118th Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

: 2008 caption: Allyson Felix, right, edges out Sanya Richards, left, both of the United States, in the Olympic development women’s 400 meters USA vs. the World race at the Penn Relays track and field meet in Philadelphia, Saturday, April 26, 2008.
|| CREDIT: DAILY LOCAL NEWS, TOM KELLY IV – AP PHOTO

: 2010 caption: Competitors warm up in the paddock as they prepare to run in the Penn Relays athletics meet in Philadelphia, Friday, April 23, 2010.
|| CREDIT: MATT ROURKE – AP PHOTO

: A downtown skyline view of Philadelphia, the annual host of the event.

2008 caption: A dramatic evening sky view of Philadelphia highlights the contrast of new and old living side by side. In the center of the shot stands the bronze statue of the city’s founder, William Penn, sitting on top of the 511-foot City Hall Tower with its lighted clock. And the newest addition to the skyline, the Comcast Center on the right towers as the tallest building between New York and Chicago. ..OUTSIDE TRIBUNE CO.- NO MAGS, NO SALES, NO INTERNET, NO TV, NEW YORK TIMES OUT, CHICAGO OUT, NO DIGITAL MANIPULATION… ORG XMIT: CHI1006251651172771

: 2008 caption: Catonsville High’s 4X400 relay team (L-R) Kellie Christian, Maya Torain, Xauddina Whittington and Naomy Ramos. The group had the fastest relay time of those competing from Maryland in the April 21st, Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
BSMG file photo by Justin Kase

: 2008 caption: Tasha Stanley, from Eleanor Roosevelt high school, is comforted by actor and comedian Bill Cosby after she competed in the high school girl’s 4×800 championship at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Friday, April 25, 2008.
|| CREDIT: JOSEPH KACZMAREK – AP PHOTO

: 2007 caption: At the prestigious Penn Relays, Broadneck High school’s Matt Centrowitz ran the best time for a high school runner in 35 years finishing the mile in 4 minutes, 8.38 seconds. After running the anchor leg securing his team’s victory in a 3200 meter relay, Centrowitz watches a hurdles event at an Old Mill invitational.
ELIZABETH MALBY/BALTIMORE SUN STAFF

: 2006 caption: Maryland’s Kierra Foster, who placed first, competes in the college women’s long jump championship during the 112th Penn Relays, Thursday, April 27, 2006, in Philadelphia. She is part of 20,000 athletes participating in the Penn Relays, which began Thursday at Franklin Field. Every April, the Ivy League school’s quiet campus hosts small colleges, NCAA champions and Olympians for three days in the sport’s oldest relay event.
|| CREDIT: H. RUMPH JR. – AP PHOTO

: 2005 caption: COLUMBIA, MD — Sports feature on Long Reach High School runner JaNay Woolridge, who will be competing in the up-coming Penn Relays on Thursday. Woolridge has committed to attend University of Missouri, where she received athletic and academic scholarships. She is pictured during practice.
BALTIMORE SUN STAFF PHOTO BY KENNETH K. LAM

: The campus of The University of Pennsylvania has been host to the Penn Relays since the 1800s. In 2005, The Sun ran a story on campus security at elite institutions, for which this photo was taken.
BALTIMORE SUN STAFF PHOTO DOUG KAPUSTIN

: 2004 caption: Olympian Marion Jones waves after anchoring the Olympic development 400-meter relay at the Penn Relays on Saturday, April 24, 2004, in Philadelphia. Jones, Angela Daigle, Chryste Gaines and Inger Miller won the race with a time of 42.63 seconds.
|| CREDIT: CHRIS GARDNER – AP PHOTO

: 1995 caption: Diane Guthrie-Gresham of George Mason lands in the sand during Women’s College long jump championship at the Penn Relays Thursday, April 27,1995, in Philadelphia. Guthrie-Gresham, who won the heptathlon on Wednesday, won the long jump championship.
|| CREDIT: RUSTY KENNEDY – AP PHOTO

: 1994 caption: Louisiana State runner Cheryl Taplin celebrates after anchoring her team to a new American record in the womens 4 X 200 meter relay at the Penn relays in Philadelphia, Saturday, April 30, 1994. Taplin also won the women’s 100-meter dash for the second year in a row.
|| CREDIT: TIM SHAFFER – AP PHOTO

: 1994 caption: Tennessee’s Jose Parrilla, left, just beats Abilene Christian University’s Joseph Tangelei at the finish line of the College Mens Sprint Medley Relay at the Penn Relays Saturday April 30, 1994, in Philadelphia. Tennessee won with a time of 3.13.28.
|| CREDIT: CHRIS GARDNER – AP PHOTO

: 1968 caption: Morgan State track coach ED Hurt discusses team’s chances in this week’s Penn Relays with Bear stars Hartley Saunders and Ronald Barbosa. Saunders is defending triple jump champ, Barbosa will run on relay.
Photo by William Hotz

: Philadelphia hosts more than track meets. Here, the city gets ready for the GOP convention in 1940.
1940 credit: “Wide World Photo”

: This uncredited handout photo from the Baltimore Sun archives shows a view of the platform at 30th Street Station, a few blocks north of Penn Relays venue Franklin Field.

1933 caption: “Looking eastward along a platform of the new Penna. R.R. Terminal, in Phila., towards the beautiful Art Galleries. Overhead are the wires, a part of the gigantic electrification program, that has been finished from New York to Wilmington, Del., and which will be extended to Baltimore and Washington.”

: Franklin Field, while still a large venue, once boasted a capacity roughly 30,000 higher than its current limit.

1930 caption from Sun archives: “A general view of the huge crowd of 80,000 which crowded every nook and coner (sic) of Franklin Field to witness the powerful Notre Dame football team vanquish the University of Pennsylvania Eleven by a score of 60 to 20. Watch your credit line: Photo from Wide World Photos: Copyright Aero Service Corp.”

: Nearly a century after this photo was taken, a path still traces the river upstream from the Penn Relays venue at Franklin Field.

1926 caption from Sun archives: “View of Schuylkill River from Public boat Houses, Fairmount Park. Photo by C.S. Field, 3712 Hamilton St., Phila Pa.”

: 1926 caption from Sun archives: “High Street, as it appeared in 1776 — as reconstructed at the Sesquicentennial Exposition Plaza as it appeared under construction in 1926.”

: A 1908 game between the Naval Academy football team and the Army team, held at Franklin Field. The Penn Relays would have been using the venue annually for just over a decade at the time this Library of Congress photo was taken.

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