Select members of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) women’s outdoor track and field team performed in the world-famous Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field on April 26 and April 27.
The Penn Relays feature an enormous number of athletes from around the world each year, but UDC athletes still stood out from the crowd.
Junior Areial Clark competed in the shot put event, earning 19th place in a field of 24 competitors with a toss of 12.21 meters.
Meanwhile, sophomore Callister Jones, junior Kaydian Jones, sophomore Kimoy Mais and freshman Kaneesha Hollis teamed up to form a 4×400 meter relay team and finished 6th in their heat and 59th overall out of 77 teams with a season-best time of 3:54.46.
Senior senior Shauna-Kay Creary later joined Jones, Hollis, and Jones to run the 4×200 meter relay, finishing with an impressive time of 1:42.19, placing fourth in their heat and 32nd overall in a field of 51 teams.
More than 22,000 athletes from more than 60 different countries compete in the Penn Relays each year—more than the total number of athletes that compete in the Olympic Games. The attendance on April 26, despite a cold, rainy day at Franklin Field, was 23,075. The approximate attendance for April 27 was 26,000. Also, event organizers estimated that 4,000 online video stream subscribers watched the competition.