This weekend, senior Gabby Piper and the rest of the women's 4x100-meter team have an opportunity to break a school record. Last year , Piper and two of her current teammates came within 0.15 seconds of the record.
Credit: Courtesy of Penn AthleticsIt’s tough to get four people running the fastest times of their lives in a single race.
But when Penn track's women's 4x100-meter relay team enters Franklin Field on Thursday afternoon in the preliminary heats of the Penn Relays, it is about to try and do just that.
Together Lydia Ali , Heather Bong , Rachel Hlatky and Gabby Piper have the opportunity to do something special.
“I tell them, there is nothing like winning a championship or setting a record as a team,” assistant coach Porscha Dobson said.
“We know that we have potential for great success at the [Heptagonals] and at the Penn Relays, and that provides excitement, and we definitely set that as a goal at the beginning of the year and something for us to achieve together.”
The challenge of improving the 4x100m record is not something new for this group of athletes. Last year, three of the four — Piper, Hlatky and Bong, along with now-graduated Nony Onyeador — came just .15 seconds off the school record in the Eastern College Athletic Conference finals at the Relays. In fact, four of the school's five fastest times have been recorded in the past five seasons, a testament to the sprinting program's strength.
“We all bring something to the table and it’s really fun, we really have a great time being together and motivating each other,” said Ali, who will be competing in her first Penn Relays.
On and off the track, the group has developed a strong bond and hopes that that closeness and trust in one another will pay dividends.
“I’m probably the most serious ... I would call myself the mom,” Bong said. “The other three are goofy, but the mix of it all gives us a good result.”
The result the group has been chasing is a record that was set in 2010. But this year, it has a very strong opportunity to break it considering it is one of the fastest groups in Penn’s history.
Ali, Bong and Piper are first, second and sixth, respectively, in the event in Penn’s history and Hlatky, who primarily runs the 200m, is just outside the top ten in her event.
Furthermore, the team turned in a solid 46.5 second race just a week ago at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton, and with the added benefit of clean handoffs and adrenaline from the large crowd, as well as two opportunities to break the record — in the trials and finals of Eastern Colleges — Penn has a real chance to break the mark.
“We have to adjust to how we know each other and how each other is running,” Hlatky said .
For Piper — one of the all-time great sprinters for Penn women’s track and the group’s only senior, — breaking the record would be a fitting end for her last Relays. The opportunity to compete one last time marks the end of her home career, but also a chance to leave a lasting impact.
“The relay is all about chemistry, and we spend way too much time together,” Piper joked. “This is the second year Rachel and I are doing the same leg, and she can tell the day I’m having by how I warm up.
“I’m looking forward to the races and this is the last time that I will run in a meet on Penn’s track, I’m just ready to get out there in a team meet.”
Together they are ready for the fastest race of their lives .
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