4x400 Relay Breaks Record, Track & Field Opens BU Valentine Invite

Friday, February 14

Boston, MA

Brown University

BU Valentine Invitational

4x400 Relay Breaks Record, Track & Field Opens BU Valentine Invite

2/15/2020 10:54:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Results

BOSTON – The Brown women's track & field team broke a 29-year old school record in the 4x400 meter relay as the Bears opened competition at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday.

The 4x400 meter relay team of Maddie Frey (Waukesha, Wis.), Gracie Whelan (Charlotte, N.C.), Hanna Barakat (Los Angeles, Calif.) and May Stern (Providence, R.I.) teamed up to post a school record-breaking time of 3:40.80, besting the previous mark of 3:42.57, set in 1991. The group finished behind only St. John's for a runner-up performance out of 60 relay teams.

"The long sprinters were on fire today," said head coach Tim Springfield. "Kennedy Waite had a huge breakthrough. I know that Coach Mvumvure has been seeing some great things from her in practice, and it was exciting to see her make that jump today. And the relay was tremendous--they executed extremely well and ran tough. The old record lasted 29 years for a reason, and to break it by almost two seconds is incredible."

Rookie Kennedy Waite (Woodland Hills, Calif.) turned in an 11th-place finish in the 200 meters at 24.41 for third all-time at Brown. Whelan also added a ninth-place finish in the 400 meters in a time of 54.61 for fifth all-time in program history.

Junior Samantha Valentine (Middleton, Wis.) paced the distance group with a time of 9:33.16 for fifth all-time in the Brown record books.

The Brown men's team will compete at BU on Saturday and both squads will head to Yale for the Geigengack Invitational.