At The Penn Relay Carnival, runners of all ages and countries can compete. High school teams run on the same track that Olympians do. This collection of hidden and celebrated talent allows for stars to shine, and these stars are forever remembered in the Penn Relays Wall of Fame.
This year, relay teams from Arizona State University from 1988 and Morgan State University from 1950 will be memorialized, alongside Dover High School’s Cathy Schiro O'Brien, Kingston College’s Carlos Mattis, Villanova’s Krestena Sullivan, and the University of Michigan's Kevin Sullivan.
“It's been a number of years,” Kevin Sullivan said, “But it's cool because Penn Relays is always a highlight of our season and and now to be honored almost 30 years after our championship team is just a kind of exciting walk down memory lane.”
Kevin Sullivan was the anchor for Michigan’s 1998 distance medley relay team, beating out rival Arkansas and star runner Seneca Lassiter – a 2019 Wall of Fame Inductee – to give Michigan its first victory since 1960. He was named the Male Athlete of the Meet that year, but Sullivan doesn’t want that one race to be the only one celebrated.
“I appreciate the fact that that was kind of a standout win for Michigan and an exciting one, because it had been so long since we won,” Kevin Sullivan said. “Hopefully, I think this also took into account some of the other performances that I had at Penn, even though they were on second, third, fourth place teams.”
Even though he will have his own name and plaque on the Wall of Fame, Kevin Sullivan doesn’t dwell on his individual accomplishments – though he has many to his name, not only in the Penn Relays but also in the Olympics and world championship games.
“A relay event is one of a few times where you get to actually share that experience with teammates,” Sullivan said. “I was a big team sport guy growing up through elementary school and high school, and you lose that a little bit when you get into track and field. So it was fun to be a part of something that I got to share with other people.”
Now into his fourth year as the director of both the track and field and cross country programs at the University of Michigan, he is bringing his team to the Penn Relays this year, and he is fully focused on giving his team the best change to win, not “[projecting] my performances onto them,” saying, “I'm not a big reminiscer, honestly.”
Having run in Penn Relays every year as an undergraduate, Kevin Sullivan understands the need to prepare “for the chaos of everything that kind of goes along with Penn relays … they call it a Carnival for a reason and and so you have to be okay with being outside of your comfort level.”
Even as he returns to Franklin Field almost 30 years after his epic performance that established his status as an elite athlete, Michigan’s most decorated runner and future coach, he is ready to stand on the sidelines and cheer on his team to “be a small part of athletes achieving big things.”
Friday will come with the celebration and the honor, and Sullivan is grateful for that. But he is ready for the next challenge.
“And then we'll get to work and see what we can do on Saturday," Sullivan said.
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