The Olympic Development at Penn Relays features a bunch of unfamiliar names, with a couple PA alums mixed in as well. One of the bigger names in the race is Chris Kwiatkowski, a former Oregon Duck who boasts a pb of 13:51, the fastest in the field. He ran 13:57 at Raleigh Relays earlier this year so he is close to getting back to where he was in college. He should be the favorite. Behind him there are a couple freshmen from NC State running unattached that caught my eye, Ian Milder and Zack Langston. Milder boast some impressive high school times of 8:51 for 2 miles and 14:49 for 5k. The 14:49 doesn’t pop out right away, but that was a cross country time, so I would have to imagine he could have run a lot faster on the track. He also ran 8:12 for 3k indoors this year. Zach Langston was also a sub-15 cross country guy, coming in with a 14:56 pb. He has also run 8:29 for 3k. I think his cross country time is a lot stronger than the 3k time, so I will be interested to see how he does this weekend. I really like his potential though. The next name worth noting is former PA runner Wade Endress. He ran 14:19 last year, and if the race is honest, I could see him dropping under 14 this weekend. He has shown good speed indoors with a 4:02 mile, so I’m excited to see what he does. Another name that really interests me is Dan Feeney. He was a track and xc athlete for the University of Delaware until they cut their programs, prompting him to become a pro triathlete. He carries fairly modest pb’s of 14:36 and 8:36 for 5k and 3k respectively. I’ll be interested to see how his triathlon success translates onto the track. Finally, a couple collegiate athletes to keep your eyes on are Quinn Raseman of Iona and Tom O’Neill of Providence. Raseman carries a 3k pb of 8:16 and O’Neill has run 14:31 for 5k. Keep an eye on these guys, because if they are on their game, they could get into the top 5. Ultimately, I think Kwiatkowski is the class of this field. Hopefully the race gets out quick and some of these guys can get pulled to good times.
Kwiatkowski-13:49
Milder-14:05
Endress-14:07
Raseman-14:10
O’Neill-14:15
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