Penn Relays 2017: Norristown HS Sending Four Relay Teams

NORRISTOWN, PA -- When the oldest and largest track and field relay meet in the world begins in Philadelphia this week, Norristown will be well represented.

The high school has four relay teams registered in the Penn Relays, with the first full day of competition getting underway Thursday. Scattered events started as early as Tuesday.

The schedule for local athletes is as follows:

• High School Girls 4x100 Large Schools, Thursday, 12:20 p.m.
• High School Girls' 4x400 Suburban American, Thursday, 4:55 p.m.
• High School Boys 4x100 Large Schools, Friday, 11:40 a.m.
• High School Boys 4x400 Suburban American, Saturday, 12:15 p.m.

Norristown has also entered a team in the PIAA Middle School Boys 4x100.

The high school has a storied history at the meet. Norristown sprinter Tony Darden was named athlete of the meet in 1975. Darden would go on to have a brilliant career, capped by winning the 400 meter dash at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame in 2007.

And Norristown's Josh Culbreath, a 400 meter hurdler and 1956 Olympic bronze medal winner, was inducted into the Wall of Fame in 1994.

2017 marks the 123rd year of the Penn Relays Carnival, which has been hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field since 1895. Races are held from Tuesday through Saturday at every level of competition, from elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and post-collegiate Olympic development, to USA vs. the World elite relay races featuring some of the fastest humans on the planet.

USA vs. the World events take place on Saturday afternoon. Teams from Jamaica, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Haiti, Guyana, and beyond will be on hand. For a full schedule of events, see here.

Image via University of Pennsylvania