USA Dominates Rest of the World at Penn Relays (6-0)

The USA brought its A-teams to the 2012 Penn Relays at Franklin Field,Philadelphiayesterday, and ran away with all six relay titles. The USA performance signals its intention of being more than a factor on the track heading to the London Olympics. The USA captured the women’s Sprint Medley, the men’s Distance Medley, the men’s and women’s 4x1 and 4x4 relay titles. Allyson Felix- 2 Races, 2 Records  Carmelita Jeter anchored the USA Red women’s 4x1 relay team of Tiana Madison, Allyson Felix, and Bianca Knight to victory in a world-leading and Franklin Field record time of 42.19 seconds. Felix ran a blistering 2^nd leg (back-stretch) to open up the race and handed the baton to Knight.  Knight gave the baton to the reigning 100m world champion, Jeter in 1^st position, and Jeter extended her lead to take the victory over Jamaica (42.31) and Nigeria (43.92). Allyson Felix later joined Francena McCorory, Natasha Hastings, and Sanya Richards-Ross and ran a superb 2^nd leg to contribute to the USA Red victory in the women’s 4x4 also in world-leading and Franklin Field record time of 3:21.18. Richards-Ross clocked 49.5 seconds on the anchor-leg without being challenged.Jamaica was second in 3:26.55; withUSA Blue (3.27.08) andGreat Britain (3:28.71) in third and fourth. Redemption The USA Red men’s 4x1 relay team of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Doc Patton and Walter Dix was able to get the baton safely around the field and captured the events in 38.40 seconds ahead of the USA Blue team (38.47) andJamaica(38.98). This victory was especially satisfying for Doc Patton after the mishap at the Daegu world championship, in which the USA was unsuccessful in getting baton around the field. “I was just happy to complete a relay. Had some problems here in the past, so getting the stick around the track was enough for me. We all have a great camaraderie. We all get along. There are no egos on this team anymore.” said Patton Quarter-milers Dominate LaShawn Merritt anchored the USA Red 4x4 team to victory in 3:00.15 over Bahamas(3:00.56), USA Blue (3:03.13) and Jamaica (3:03.28). The USA Blue team (Calvin Smith, Angelo Taylor, Bershawn “Batman” Jackson and Merritt) had to overcome a feisty and determined Henry Rolle coached-Bahamian team who held the lead for most of the race. Chris “Fireman” Brown got baton ahead of Merritt on the anchor leg but Merritt would not be denied and overtook Fireman Brown with about 70m to go for a comfortable win. “I knew I had the race won, so rather than press Chris in the early part of the race, I took the opportunity to work on a few things” said Merritt.   Leo Manzano out-battled Bernard Lagat on the anchor-leg (1600m) to lead the USA Blue team of Tyler Mudler, David Neville and Khadevis Robinson to victory in 9:19.31 over the USA Red team (9:19.88) in the men’s Distance Medley. Ethiopiawas third in 9:21.42.