’Nova’s Cleirigh Buttner ready for her finale at Penn Relays
RADNOR » Siofra Cleirigh Buttner had a basic knowledge of the Penn Relays when she arrived at Villanova from Dublin, Ireland as a freshman in the fall of 2014.
Villanova coaches Gina Procaccio and Marcus O’Sullivan made that abundantly clear during the recruiting process. What Cleirigh Buttner did not realize was how much of an impact the relay carnival has on the track and field program at Villanova.
It did not take her long find out.
“Every fall, Gina has a ziti party at her house,” Cleirigh Buttner said. “It’s the beginning of the season and we gather everyone together to have some good food and talk about the season and the expectations. Gina has a Penn Relays videos and national videos in a big collage on the big screen.
“When you watch those videos you get shivers down your spine. People coming in that don’t have an understanding to about the Penn Relays quickly realize that this is a huge deal.”
Running in the Penn Relays is still a thrill for Cleirigh Buttner and she’ll do it for the last time as a collegian when the 124th relay carnival kicks into high gear Thursday.
“Franklin Field is one of my favorite stadiums to compete in and part of that is how big the stadium is, but it feels so small because it’s so compact and so full,” Cleirigh Buttner said. “That is an experience I hope to continue more at the world championships and the Olympic Games and in other international competition. I think Penn Relays sets up a very unique atmosphere in terms of the paddock, the size of the stadium and the ‘Nova section. There’s just a lot going on and it’s so well organized that it brings that magical feeling together every day for those three days every year.”
Ah, yes, the “’Nova Section,” which is located in the southwest corner of the stadium. The late Jumbo Elliott started the tradition of sitting in that section of Franklin Field and the chants that emanate from that area have spurred a many a Villanova runner and relay teams to victory.
It did for Cleirigh Buttner when she anchored the Wildcats to an upset of Oregon in the 4 x 1,500-meter relay as a sophomore. The was the first of the six Penn Relays wheels she has won.
“Honestly, that’s all I could hear the whole race,” Cleirigh Buttner said. I think I was in a bit of a zone and all I could here was the ‘Let’s Go ‘Nova’ chants. That was a huge benefit for me because that was like an out-of-body experience. It was like a dream almost just hearing that and nothing else.
“You have the alumni, people from the ‘60s, the 2000s, people you hear about, people on the walls, people in the record books and the kids you’re training with every day. They come every day and that’s something unique to us. There’s no one else in the stands doing that. It’s definitely an advantage.”
The Wildcats will try to repeat the distance triple they pulled off a year ago winning the DMR, 4 x 800 and 4 x 1,500. Cleirigh Buttner was on all three relays and earned the college women’s Athlete of the Meet award for that accomplishment.
If she runs all three races, and Villanova wins all three, Cleirigh Buttner will tie former teammate and now assistant coach Angel Piccirillo with nine relay wins at Penn. That, though, may not be necessary.
“We have a lot of depth this year that we may not have to have everyone run all three,” Procaccio said. “We wanted to do it last year, but we had some injuries so we had three do all three.”
Cleirigh Buttner will run the 1,600-meter anchor leg as the Wildcats try to win the distance medley relay for the second year in a row and the sixth time in the last seven years. Nichole Hutchinson (1,200-meter leadoff leg) and McKenna Keegan (400) are back, took. Freshman Rachel McArthur will take Cleirigh Buttner’s spot in the 800. After that, who knows? “We’ll decide after the DMR,” Prococcio said. “I just approach it one day at a time and tell everyone who’s in the mix and then decide after that. Everyone but McKenna is in other two.”
On the men’s side, freshman Logan Wetzel, sophomore’s Harry Purcell and Ville Lampinen and junior Eliot Slade were eighth in the DMR for the Wildcats at the NCAA indoor championships. However, do not expect the Wildcats to run all three distance relays as the women. The men’s DMR is Friday, while the 4 x mile and 4 x 800 take place Saturday.
One of the highlights of the Penn Relays is the USA vs. World competition, which takes place Saturday. The teams competing this year are the United States, Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Trinidad. The teams will be the mix for the announced Friday and the USA vs. World competition will be broadcast live on NBCSN from 12:30-3 p.m. Saturday.
On the high school side, Penn Wood and Strath Haven will look to qualify for the Championship of America in the 4 x 800 for the second straight year. Elizabeth Mancini, the 2017 Daily Times girls cross country, Runner of the Year, is entered in the 3,000. All-Delco Tara Higgins will take part in the javelin and Meghan Lynch from Ridley is in the triple jump. All of those events are Thursday.
Competition begins Friday on the boys side. Strath Haven’s Dayo Abeeb is entered in the triple jump.