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The 2012 Penn Relays continue on Friday beginning at 9 a.m. with the college men's 400 meter championships.
[View the entire Penn Relays Friday schedule]
The oldest track event in the United States, the Penn Relays was first held on April 21, 1895 and has been hosted annually at Franklin Field since. The event attracts high school, college and club athletes, featuring athletes from several different countries.
On Thursday, filled with mostly preliminary races, just one Championship of America was decided: The Villanova women's team won the distance medley for the first time since 2006, giving Wildcats star Sheila Reid her first Penn Relays title.
Reid told the Philadelphia Inquirer the win meant a lot.
"I like to treat Penn Relays like it's all business but it never is," said Reid, a fifth-year senior from Canada who became the fifth Wildcat woman to win NCAA individual indoor, outdoor, and cross-country titles and a Penn Relays event.
"There's a lot of emotion. Our school puts a lot of emphasis on this. It means a lot to the alumni, too, to come back to watch. So once I had the baton in my hands, I wanted it to be strictly business, but you can't help but let the emotions get the best of you when you're going by that backstretch and people are chanting, 'Go 'Nova!' "