Track and Field Chases Fifth Championship of America at the Penn Relays This Week

Thursday, April 26

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Mississippi State

Penn Relays (O)

MSU returns to the Penn Relays after a three-year hiatus this weekend.

Track and Field Chases Fifth Championship of America at the Penn Relays This Week

April 25, 2018 | Track & Field

Meet Notes Live Results Broadcast Coverage

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – This week is all about the wheels.

Second only to the NCAA Championships, the Penn Relays are a highlight of the collegiate track season. Over 25,000 fans are expected to be in attendance as Mississippi State track and field pursues its first Championship of America wheel since 2010.

The 124^th running of the event, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, will span Thursday, Friday and Saturday with over 225 colleges participating. Thousands of athletes will be on hand at Franklin Field as the event includes high school, collegiate, Olympic Development, international, youth and master's level events. Live streaming will be available through a USATF.tv+ subscription.

"We can't wait," MSU coach Steve Dudley said. "We're extremely excited. It's been a tradition for me ever since I was an athlete. The tune-ups are out of the way, and the energy's great."

MSU has won four Championship of America wheels, but the women are still seeking their first. They'll have a good chance in the 4x400m relay, where they enter as the No. 7 seed.

The No. 16 Bulldog men are set up well for three very competitive relays. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Willie-Lionel Reed, Ro'Derick Spears, Charles Brockman III and Herbert Wise III have already broken the school record in the event earlier this year. Their record run at the Pepsi Florida Relays of 57.16 is the fastest time in the NCAA this season.

In the men's 4x800m, MSU is the No. 2 seed behind Penn State, but the Bulldogs will also be challenged for a second time by Indiana, which beat them at the Tennessee Relays their last time on the track. State also enters the sprint medley relay as the No. 4 seed.

"We should have Marco Arop, Dejon Devroe, Daniel Nixon and Kenya Small on the men's 4x800m," Dudley said. "For prelims, Marco will run the 4x400m, and Devroe will run the 800m of the sprint medley. In the men's 4x200m, I'm trying to run a total B team in prelims, just hoping we can make it to the finals the next day. Then I'll plug in the A team."

Competition begins at 8 a.m. CT on Thursday with the college women's discus. MSU will compete, primarily in field events, but the distance races will close out the day and the women's 4x400m relay will run its qualifying heat.

Friday calls for more relay prelims, but the men's and women's shuttle hurdle relays, men's distance medley relay and both sprint medley relays will run for a wheel. Fans can catch the Bulldogs in the men's DMR on NBC Sports at 4:15 p.m. Individuals will compete in the 400m hurdles, 100m dash and 110m hurdles along with select field events.

The Bulldogs wrap the weekend with finals in the relays, women's 100m and men's 110m hurdles for those who qualify. Anderson Peters and Nicolas Quijera, Nos. 1 and 3 in the NCAA, will throw the javelin that morning, and NCAA 1500m leader Rhianwedd Price-Weimer will run in the Olympic Development section of the mile. Should MSU advance to the Championship of America in the 4x100m and 4x200m relays, NBC Sports will again provide live coverage from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information on the MSU track and field team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching 'HailStateSnap'.