Penn Relays off for second straight year

For the second straight year there will be no Penn Relays, at least in its traditional form.

The University of Pennslyvania announced Thursday that it has canceled the 2021 Penn Relays, originally scheduled for April 22-24, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and local restrictions on large gatherings.

However, if conditions on camps and the City of Philadelphia continue to improve, the Penn Relays will host a local collegeonly track meet at Franklin Field on Saturday, April 24 on what would have been the last day of the carnival. That meet will be consistent with the Ivy League Council of Presidents’ parameters for spring sports competition.

The Penn Relays will also hold a meet for open and professional athletes in the coming months and a scholastic meet sometime in the summer.

“We are extremely disappointed to cancel the Penn Relays for a second year,” said Dave Johnson, Director of the Penn Relays said in a statement. “At the same time, we feel a strong obligation to the local track and field community to provide as much competition as safely possible during the course of the spring and summer.”

The college-only meet will consist of Division I, II and III schools within the Philadelphia region in a one-day event. Team and individual participants will have to comply with Penn’s COVID-19 safety policies and procedures, which include adhering to sufficient testing programs, symptom checking, contact tracing, mask wearing and physical distancing except while competing.

The open and professional meet will be held before the U.S. Olympic-qualifying deadlines. The U.S Olympic Trials as scheduled for June 18-27 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The Olympics are scheduled for July 23-Aug. 8 in Tokyo.

The scholastic meet will be held later in the summer. Information on both meets will be released at a later date.

No fans will be allowed into any of the events. Only essential personnel will be allowed into Franklin Field. Ticket refund information can be found on the Penn Relays website.

“It is disappointing that we once again have to cancel one of the landmark events of the spring in Philadelphia and in track and field, but collectively we want to ensure the safety of our athletes, campus, community, and spectators,” Penn athletic director Dr. M. Grace Calhoun said. “Our goal on campus has been to safely move through the Ivy athletic activity phases to host competition and we remain hopeful that we will be able to provide some competitive opportunities for as many athletes as possible who have missed out on so much this past year. Splitting the meet into three distinct group of participants provides the greatest opportunity to host safe competition.”