Penn Relays | Penn looks to protect its home turf

For the Penn track team, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

Senior captain Jesse Carlin said Penn Relays are "like Christmas."

Women's head coach Gwen Harris said, "I've been coming to Penn Relays since I was a kid. It is one of the best meets there is. The excitement, the crowds - no matter what the weather is like - people will run."

But as men's captain Tim Kaijala explained, it's not just about the running.

"Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson were around last year and I didn't get to meet them," he said. "I'm going try to be around the meet a lot more, taking it all in, getting the whole experience."

Kaijala will take to Franklin Field on Saturday for the 4x800-meter relay. Columbia won the event last year - and Kaijala was not too keen on watching the Lions celebrate on his home track.

Penn has beaten them this year and is more concerned with other competition.

"We might not be the favorites because Texas set the world indoor medley relay record and LSU is always strong," he said.

Yet the men may have an easier time than their female counterparts; no Ivy League women's relay team has ever won a race during the Penn Relays.

Carlin will help anchor the both the Distance and Sprint medley relay teams.

The DMR placed seventh at nationals and in the top 10 at least year's Relays, leading Carlin to predict a top-five finish.

Front-runner Michigan features a graduate student who joined the Wolverines after four years at Cornell; other threats include North Carolina, Stanford, regional rival Villanova and Ancient Eight foes Brown and Columbia.

Meanwhile, Penn's appearance in the SMR will be its first since Carlin's freshman year, but her prediction was equally bold.

"There is a good chance at winning a plaque against the ECAC teams," she said.

Saturday, the women will run the 4x800-meter, trying to improve on last year's fifth-place finish. Both Harris and Carlin agree that this team has a chance to set a school record, but this time, Carlin will stay on the sidelines.

"I wish I could run on every relay but I'm not a machine," Carlin said. "My mindset is always the same for every race, though. It's always on attack."

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