Florida, LSU the top schools

This weekend, college athletes will travel from all corners of the country and abroad to Franklin Field to compete in the historic Penn Relays.

The Relays are one of the major focal points for some of the country's best teams, and are used as a gauge for the NCAA National Championships.

Returning to Franklin Field this year is a plethora of talented teams that has performed well at Penn Relays in the past and is hoping to return to glory again this year.

The sprint events will be one part of competition that will be highlighted by an impressive group of returnees.

Posing a great threat will be defending event-winner Florida, which captured first place in the 4x100 meter event last year in a time of 43.43.

The relay team, composed of Amber Robinson, Ebony Shotwell, Keyon Soley and Niki Benjamin, is looking to duplicate its feat.

However, the Gators will face intense competition from other up-and-coming squads.

Last year's second-place finisher in the 4x100, Louisiana State is returning and is looking for revenge.

LSU -- the defending NCAA champions and first-place finisher in the 4x200 meter relay at last year's Penn Relays -- is currently tied for third with South Carolina in the Trackwire rankings.

The Tigers are running 43.71 seconds in the 4x100 and individual runners Stephanie Durst and Muna Lee are on par to have record-breaking seasons. Lee is running 11.24 seconds in the 100 meters, and Durst is going for 11.39. Both runners will be pivotal if LSU hopes to win the event.

"They're doing a really good job," LSU coach Pat Henry said. "I think we can run a really good race."

Also set to run a good a race is a South Carolina team that will travel north to Franklin Field possessing one of its strongest freshmen classes in history.

In the sprint events, the Gamecocks will have returning team -- Demetria Washington, Tacita Bass, Lashinda Demus, and Me'Lisa Barber -- pecking at the heels of highly-touted SEC-rival LSU.

The final team with its eyes on the crown in the sprint events is Texas. The Longhorns finished first in the sprint medley in 2000, and are coming off of a win over LSU at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays held in Austin from April 3-6.

In the distance events, Arkansas appears to be the team to beat. Winners of last year's 4x1500 meter relay, the Razorbacks -- Andrina Byrd, Lilli Kleinmann, Christin Wurth -- return three of four members from the championship squad.

Hoping to challenge the Razorbacks is a team coming in from sunny Palo Alto, Calif. Though the Stanford Cardinal always bring a strong team eastward, they have never won a race at the Penn Relays and are determined to change their fate this year.

Led by Lauren Fleshman, Stanford is looking to avenge a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay. And Fleshman -- who won the NCAA indoor 3k this year -- will run what could be the deciding final leg of the race.

But, before they are able to capture the DMR, the Cardinal will have to hold off a fiery group from the University of North Carolina.

The defending champions in the event, the Tar Heels recorded their first win at the Relays last year in a time of 11:03.52. North Carolina will be relying on ACC indoor mile and 3000m champion sophomore Shalene Flanagan to lead them to another victory.

Also running in North Carolina's DMR squad will most likely be leadoff Erin Donohue, Anissa Gainey in the 400 and Alice Schmidt in the 800. Donohue won the National Scholastic outdoor mile race last year.

The final team that will pose a threat in the distance events is Georgetown. The Hoyas finished third in last year's DMR and are hoping to battle for the win in the 4x800 this year.

During the indoor season, the Hoyas recorded the fastest NCAA time of 8:49.29, but will have to answer to a team from Florida that won the event last year.

Running for Georgetown will be Heather Blackard, Treniere Clement, Jill Laurendeau and Tyrona Heath.

Regardless of the outcome of the races, the teams are excited just to be participating in the festive environment of the Penn Relays.

"You just can't miss the Penns," South Carolina coach Curtis Frye said.

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