April 28, 2001
On the final day of competition at the 107th running of the famous Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, the Villanova men completed a successful weekend by placing second in the 4 x mile relay. On Friday, Villanova ran to a victory in the DMR, marking the first time the Wildcats won the event at the Penn Relays since 1981.
Senior Scott Tantino (North Wales, Pa.) ran the leadoff leg of the 4 x mile team and ran 4:08.5 to put the 'Cats in fourth place as he handed the baton to sophomore Adrian Blincoe (Auckland, New Zealand). Blincoe, who anchored the DMR team to the victory on Friday, had another outstanding effort, running his split in 4:01.1 to give Villanova a lead over Stanford entering the third leg of the race.
Following the second leg, it was a two-team race between Villanova and pre-race favorite Stanford. Senior Dean Smith (Baltimore, Md.) ran third for Villanova and was clocked in 4:05.6, while Stanford's Jonathan Riley gave the Cardinal the lead heading into the anchor leg with a split of 4:01.1. Stanford's Michael Stember, a 2000 Olympian, ran a strong final leg for Stanford (4:03.6), as the Cardinal crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 16:15.70. Freshman Ryan Hayden (Richmond, Canada) recorded a time of 4:05.6 as Villanova's anchor and the Wildcats finished second in 16:20.84. William & Mary was third with a time of 16:22.08.
In men's individual events on Saturday, senior Barry Flicker (Pottstown, Pa.) recorded a throw of 65.06 meters to finish fourth in the javelin, while freshman Jason Jabaut (Peru, N.Y.) ran a strong race in the Olympic Development mile where he ran 4:02.73 to finish fifth. Junior Antoine Johnson (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) earned an eighth place finish in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.09. Defending 400 meter hurdle champion Mike Brown (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) hit the third hurdle and failed to make the finals with a clocking of 54.22. Brown won the event last year in 50.54.
In women's action, senior Charmaine Walker (Plainfield, N.J.) ran a season-best 13.38 to register a second place finish in the 100 meter hurdles. Vida Nsiah of Central State (Ohio) won the race in 13.02.
Two former Villanova greats whose eligibility expired just last season competed in the Olympic Development mile run. Now running for Adidas, Carrie Tollefson, who finished her Wildcat career with four individual NCAA track championships, crossed the line in 4:38.81 to place second, while Carmen Douma ran 4:40.84 to finish fifth. Douma ended her Main Line career last spring with three NCAA individual crowns. Sarah Schwald of Nike won the race in 4:34.02
