The Wake Forest men’s and women’s track and field teams earned several admirable finishes in multiple team and individual events at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. from April 22-24. The Demon Deacons joined an estimated 54,000 runners and spectators from around the world, including international running phenomenon Usain Bolt, at this high school, university and international competition just days after their success at the ACC Outdoor Championships.

Rachel Cameron/Old Gold and Black

The men’s team was led once again by senior Brent LaRue of Kernersville, N.C., who finished third out of 43 in the men’s 400m hurdles on April 23.

LaRue also helped the men’s 4×400 team, made up of seniors Tyler Dodds and Jon Reid and freshman Sean Lunkenheimer, to a 12th place finish in the preliminary competition.

“It was kind of a quick turn-over from the ACC’s, but it was a great meet. I got to see a lot of faster guys that I hadn’t gotten to run against yet this year” LaRue said.

“The best part was definitely the amount of people there.

“There were probably 40,000 people watching each of my events. Then, once we qualified for the 4×400 finals, we got to stay around to watch Usain Bolt.”

The women’s 4×1500m relay team consisting of Caitlin Crawford, Anna Nosenko, Erin Reddan and Casey Fowler finished ninth in their event while the women’s distance medley team of Dina Nosenko, Gwen Ricco, Anna Nosenko and Molly Binder finished fourth.

Senior Caroline Vaughn placed fourth in the 400m Hurdles Championship while graduate student Erin Reddan finished fourth in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase event.

“I got out well,” said Vaughn about her individual fourth place finish.

“That was my goal for this race, to get out in the first 200 pretty fast. I made a few mistakes on the second curve, which I am planning to work on and fine tune. I wasn’t extremely happy with my time, but I made a few mistakes that I know I can fix for future races.”

Other notable Demon Deacon performances from the Penn Relays include the Wake Forest men’s sprint medley team of Tyler Dodds, Jon Reid, Alex Hill and Thomas Morrison which finished 13th out of 38 in their event. The women’s 4×200 team made up of Gwen Ricco, Vaughn, Maddy Ricco and Nicole Castronuova also placed 29th out of 58 teams in the preliminary competition.

Members of the both the men’s and women’s track and field teams had competed one week earlier at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Clemson, S.C.

Some members of the team then headed to the Vertklasse Meeting in High Point, N.C., on April 25. Senior Thomas Sensing and sophomore  Sarah Brobeck each won the shotput event as the Deacs performed very well.

Sensing’s mark 53-01.00 was the best of the field and Brobeck posted a winning throw of 39-07.05.

The Deacs had a handful of other winners as well. Senior Carly Mauch won the javelin with a score of 123-05. Freshman Ben Lincoln, coming off his All-ACC performance at the ACC Championships, won the men’s javelin while sophomore Myesha Barr won the 100m dash.

The Demon Deacons will return to action at the North Carolina Fast Times and the and the Orange and Purple Classic, both on May 7.