PHILADELPHIA, April 29, 2011 – The Villanova women’s team rebounded from their disappointment in the Distance Medley Relay in terms of performance. But it was not result they wanted as the Boston College anchor runner Caroline King passed both Sheila Reid of Villanova and Emily Infeld of Georgetown to give the Boston College Eagles the 4 x 1500 Meter Relay Championship at the Penn Relays. King passed Reid on the last turn, then took aim on Infeld, going by the Georgetown runner to ge to the finish line first. Boston College won with a time of 17:25.19 beating the Georgetown Hoyas who finished in 17:25.65, a winning margin of .46 seconds. The Villanova Wildcats got third with a time of 17:28.12.
“Yesterday (the DMR Championship) was such a disaster, it took the pressure off us because no one would be looking at us,” said Reid. “We thought we had just as good a shot today as we did yesterday. We don’t pay attention to times coming in because things happen at the Penn Relays that you can never predict.”
“Going into the race I felt really relaxed, I didn’t feel like we had any huge pressure on us,” said King. I could feel Sheila [Reid Villanova anchor] on my back and that really pushed me to go on. Sheila then went ahead with 600 to go and that really helped me because I would just focus on her back, that was just it. I kind of just went with 100 to go. It was the most exciting race that I have ever run in, and I know that I will never forget it.”
Richmond got out to an early lead in the race leading after the first two legs behind Alli Mannon and Amanda Lineberry. Villanova was third as lead runner Ariann Neutts ran a 4:21.7 split followed by a 4:26.9 time by Emily Lipari. Going into the third leg Villanova handed the baton to Bogdana Mimic. Georgetown forged to the lead behind Renee Tomlin who turned in a 4:23.9 split. Boston College was second. Mimic ran a time of 4:26.1.
As the anchor runners took the baton it was going to be a duel between Infeld, King, and Reid. The Villanova Senior was in third palce, but was within striking distance, 6 seconds behind. With two laps remaining, Infeld held the lead, and Reid was stalking King, finally getting by her on the far turn. But unexpectedly, King went by Reid, then in the last straightaway caught Infeld to give Boston College the victory.
“I felt her (Georgetown anchor Emily Infeld) coming back to me, and the crowd really reacts to what’s going on,” Reid said. “I think she thought that I was coming after her and Boston College was coming. What I didn’t know was the crowd was indicating that someone was coming up behind me. That’s my mistake focusing on what was going on in front of me and not behind me.”
“I had to catch up to BC first,” said Reid. “I passed her (BC anchor Caroline King), but she came back and timed her kick perfectly.”
King ran the fastest split with a time of 4:12.2, and Reid turned in a performance of 4:13.4, but fell short by 3 seconds. Infeld was timed in 4:16.9.
“The team competed hard to put me in the best position possible. I ran as hard as I could. I wish I had a few more seconds. I wanted more from myself for the team. 4:11 is fine, but I needed a 4:08.”
Villanova looks toward the Big East Championships on May 6 – 8. The Penn Relays have great meaning for the Wildcats, but they know their season has not ended. There is more to accomplish.
“This is not the end of the season,” Reid s pointed out. “This is a big deal for us not winning a championship. We have over a month to go. The conference championship meet is on out home field.”
Race News and Notes
Defending Penn Relays 4 x 1500 champion Tennessee did not finish the race as there was a baton pass out of the zone by the Vols.
La Salle competed in the race finishing 10th with a time of 18:29.42. The splits for the Explorer runners were: Caitlin Storbeck (4:27.6), Stephanie Bearish (4:41.7), Meghan McGlinchey (4:40.2), and Wendy Hutchinson (4:39.9).
pennrelaysonline.com/Results/ Women’s 4 x 1500
Written By: Glenn Papazian
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