Press Release Written by Mitchell Coll
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Selected members of the Wilmington University track & field team were at Franklin Field on Friday to participate in the famed 2023 Penn Relays.
Akeel Blake became the first individual in program history to compete at the Penn Relays. Blake is also the first Wildcat to find his way to the podium, as Blake finished third overall in a highly competitive field of 22 jumpers. Blake battled not only the competition but also the rainy conditions and still managed to jump 7.23 meters. Blake had an identical jump with the second-place finisher from Wisconsin University, Justin Kiefel, but Kiefel had won the tiebreaker of having a long second-best attempt. The Penn Relays College Men's Long Jump winner was Smith Charles from Cornell University, with a jump of 7.34 meters.
In the men's 4x100 meter college division, Taf Bunu, Matthew Hibbert, Shemar Parker, and Bradley Spencer competed in a field of 25 relay teams. Wilmington finished sixth overall in the field with a time of 42.25 seconds. Wilmington finished in the top 9 overall, so they will move on to the College Final, Event #575, on Saturday, April 29, at 4:10 PM.
The Penn Relays continue Saturday, as does the Delaware Invitational which the rest of the team is competing.