James Rhoads, a third-year student on the men’s track and field team, broke the school record in the pole vault at the Mt. SAC Relays over the weekend in Walnut, California. Rhoads’ mark of 5.62 meters (18 feet 5.25 inches) topped the late Mamadou Johnson’s 1993 mark of 5.52 meters (18 feet 1.32 inches). Rhoads’s mark is also the third highest in Ivy League history.
Competing among Invitational Elite competitors, Rhoads, from Baltimore, Ohio, finished fourth overall in the pole vault at the Mt. SAC Relays, and first among collegians. Zachery Bradford won the event with a mark of 5.72 meters (18 feet 9.25 inches).
Athletes on the men’s track and field team also competed in the Paul Donahue Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. Three Quakers won their events. Second-year Shane Gardner placed first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.26. First-year Sean Golembiewski won the 400 hurdles with a time of 53.65, and third-year Benedikt Šachta won the pole vault with a mark of 5.13 meters (16 feet, 9.97 inches).
On deck for both the men’s and women’s track and field teams is the 128th running of the world famous Penn Relays. The three-day carnival runs April 25-27 at Franklin Field.
