At the Penn Relays, a strong contingent of women from Harvard earned their place in the record books, running the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) in 10:37.55.
The record setting time from Sophia Gorriaran, Chloe Fair, Victoria Bossong, and Maia Ramsden not only bested the previous collegiate record by six seconds (10:43.39, set by the University of Washington indoors early this year), but was good enough for third all-time. The previous top outdoor performance is from Villanova University in 1988 (10:48.38), which at the time was a world best, also set at the Penn Relays.
Sophia Gorriaran ran the first leg of 1200m in 3:20.36, followed by a 400m from Chloe Fair in 53.20. Victoria Bossong completed 800m in 2:02.54, and Maia Ramsden took the anchor and the final 1600m in 4:21.47.
The DMR has been seeing a surge of records early this season, with the Brooks Beasts running a world record at the Oregon Relays and Ventura High School running a national record of their own in just the past two weeks.
With this DMR, the Harvard quartet only trails two prior performances with legendary names on the list:
- 10:33.85 (2022 indoors) – New Balance – Heather MacLean, Kendall Ellis, Roisin Willis, Elle Purrier St. Pierre
- 10:36.50 (2015 World Relays) – Team USA – Treniere Moser, Sanya Richards-Ross, Ajeé Wilson, Shannon Rowbury
WATCH: Harvard Raves to Women’s Collegiate DMR Record at Penn Relays 2024
