PHILADELPHIA - The Penn Relay Carnival adds to the Wall of Fame begun in 1994 at the time of the 100th running. The class of 2017, the 24th group of inductees, brings the number of individuals selected to 111, with 101 relay teams having been chosen. Four individuals and four relay teams were selected by a panel of Penn Relays experts. The sole restriction in the nomination process is that only retired athletes (or those now competing as masters) may be nominated, and inductees are honored solely for their accomplishments at the Penn Relays; achievements in any other meets are not considered. Any relay team may be nominated, and nominations of relay teams and individuals will be accepted by the Penn Relays office at any time and from any interested party.

Each of this year’s four individual inductees set either individual event records or ran on record-setting relays. Fred Tootell and Trecia Smith set Carnival collegiate records, with Rickey Harris setting a Carnival high school record. Brian McElroy ran on a pair of record-setting relays for Villanova. Smith, Harris and McElroy share the double honor of being Relays champions both in high school and in college.

This year’s relay team honorees includes one team from before 1967, the first year of Franklin Field’s synthetic track. The 1959 Abilene Christian 440-yard relay team of Bud Clanton, Calvin Cooley, George Peterson, and Bill Woodhouse ran a Carnival record 40.9. The record was bettered only in 1967, and then only by three-tenths of a second. Accounting for the difference in track surfaces, Abilene’s mark was bettered for the first time in 1970.

The 1972 North Carolina Central Mile Relay team smashed the Penn Relays record by three seconds. The team of Melvin Bassett, Robert Ouko, Julius Sang and Larry Black ran a nation collegiate record of 3:03.1, a time not better as either a Carnival or collegiate record until 1977.  The record was highlighted by Black’s record-setting anchor of 43.8 for his quarter-mile leg.

The 1984 Villanova women’s Distance Medley relay team of Mary Ellen McGowan, Veronica McIntosh, Patty Bradley and Lauren Searby set a world record of 10:53.27. Even though this record came in the early days of the event, it lasted five years until another Villanova team surpassed it.  After 37 years of contesting the event, the 1984 team’s time remains the 6th fastest ever run at the Relays.

The 2009 Albemarle High School 4x800-meter relay team of Garrett Bradley, Zach Vrhovac, Luke Noble and Anthony Kostelac ran 7:30.67 to set the still-standing Carnival record. To top it off, Albermarle’s time was also a national high school record, which lasted two years when the first high school sub-7:30 time as run.

Fred Tootell
Bowdoin 1923
Tootell competed only once at the Penn Relays, but made the most of his appearance with a Carnival record hammer throw of 174-5, a mark which lasted until 1940. When he set the meet record, Tootell became the 7th-farthest thrower in world history, and only he threw farther than that in the world that year. One year later, Tootell won the Olympic Games in his last season of competition before retiring to the coaching ranks.

Brian McElroy
Massapequa (NY) HS 1969, New York A.C. 1971, Villanova 1974
Twice a winner of the high school mile, McElroy also competed for the New York A.C. during a college transfer year. Once arriving at Villanova he ran on five championship relays, three in 1973 and two as a senior in 1974.  Both relays in 1974 set meet records, the distance medley which he led off, and the 4-mile relay on which he ran second leg. While the DMR record was broken the next year, the 4-mile record was not broken on conversion from 4x1500 for 10 years.

Trecia Smith
Mannings (Kingston, Jamaica) HS 1995, Pittsburgh 2000, unattached 2002
One of the few people to win Carnival titles at all three major levels of competition—high school, college and Olympic development—Smith was seven-time champion and the long and triple jumps. As a high schooler, she won long jump titles in 1994 and ’95, both times over 20-feet. As a collegian she won a pair of long jump-triple jump doubles in 1997 and ’99, setting a still-standing meet record in the triple jump of 45-10 ½ in 1997.

Rickey Harris
Centreville (Clifton, Va) HS 1999, Florida 2004
A four-time champion in the 400-meter hurdles, Harris won a pair of title both as a high schooler and while in college. His exploits while competing for Centreville High School included a Carnival record 50.63 in 1999, a record which lasted two years. While in college at Florida, Harris won championships in 2001 and 2002. He was the first of only two people to win both high school and college championships in this event.