Sophia Gorriaran took full advantage of her first time competing at the Penn Relays Carnival.
Racing against a mostly-pro field in the Olympic Development 600m last year, one that included Olympic 800m gold medalist Athing Mu, the Moses Brown standout finish fourth overall with a World U18 and national outdoor record of 1 minute, 25.22 seconds.
Gorriaran will be back inside historic Franklin Field this weekend where she will once again be among a select field of just seven runners in the OD 600m. It will be her first competitive race of the spring campaign and what better way to kick off her final season as a high-school runner then at the prestigious meet, which will be celebrating its 127th year this weekend.
Mu, who won in 2022, will not be back for Saturday’s race. But the field is still stacked with six other top-level and professional runners with impressive resumes. Leading the way is ’22 world indoor 800m titlist Ajee Wilson, who was sixth at last year’s event behind Gorriaran. Jamaican national 800m and 1K record-holder Natoya Goule, a runner-up last year, is also schedule to answer the gun. The remaining field includes Gorriaran, 2021 NCAA indoor mile champion and 1:57 half-miler Sage Hurta-Klecker, Kendra Chambers, a silver medalists for 600m at the USA Track & Field Championships in 2017, and Villanova grad McKenna Keegan, who was second for 800m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring.
Classical will have a small contingent of three relay squads making the trip. The Purple’s DMR squad was the last team selected for the Championship of America (COA) race on Friday night. It marks the first time ever that Classical was accepted into the COA event. The squad, which consists of Grace Doyle, Zaida Depina, Orla Howlett, and Caroline Jankowich, had a state-leading time of 12:35.02 during the indoor season from the U.S. Army Officials Hall of Fame Invitational in late January. Depina, Jankowich, Jasmin Berganza and Shakeyro Arroyo will compete in the 4x400m (Saturday) and Depina, Arroyo, Berganza and Morricia Bryant are scheduled for the 4x100m (Friday).
Frequent participants Bishop Hendricken and La Salle Academy will also be in Philadelphia for the three-day meet that began on Thursday. The Hawks are entered in the 4x400m and 4x100m. Sophomore Jakob Reyes is in the high jump. All three events are on Thursday. La Salle is entered in the boys’ 4x100m (Thursday), boys’ 4x400m (Thursday), girls’ 4x100m (Friday) and girls’ 4x400m (Saturday). East Greenwich will have two squads at Penn, a boys’ 4x100m (Thursday) and girls’ 4x100m (Friday).
