Franklin Field’s metal stands will soon be packed with hundreds of thousands of uproarious fans for three days straight. The Penn Relay Carnival, one of track and field’s biggest annual events, is right around the corner, drawing athletes from all over the world to compete in everything from throwing to sprinting to jumping. The meet hosts events for all age groups, ranging from the middle school 4x100-meter relay to professional-level races in the Penn Relays’ newly refined Olympic Development program.
During the years in which the Summer Olympics take place, professional athletes tend to treat the Penn Relays and other similarly competitive meets as a warmup for the Olympic trials. While the Summer Olympics won’t occur for another three years, Franklin Field will still see a wealth of talent in its professional representatives this year. With hundreds competing on the track and field, navigating the Olympic Development competitions can get confusing. Here’s who to keep an eye out for on Saturday, April 26.
Vernon Turner, men’s high jump
Turner is a high jumper with a short but promising career history. During his college years, he competed for both Oklahoma and Arkansas. At the former, he won the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the high jump.
Following his graduation from Oklahoma, he turned professional in 2023 and placed third at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, qualifying him for the 2023 World Athletics Championships. He repeated this cycle the following year, finishing second at the 2024 USA Track and Field Indoor Championships behind Shelby McEwen.
Turner soon became the youngest man to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in the high jump and competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he finished in 23rd place. Most recently, Turner won the 2025 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Vashti Cunningham, women’s high jump
Cunningham is no stranger to Franklin Field: This will be her third appearance at the Penn Relays. Coming from a large family of athletes, the American high jumper brings the heat at every competition. She is the daughter of retired NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and former ballerina Felicity Cunningham, the niece of retired NFL fullback Sam Cunningham, and the sister of former high jumper Randall Cunningham II.
With athleticism in her bones, Cunningham competed regularly throughout high school and, at 18 years old, signed with Nike and declared her intent to compete professionally while attending university.
At age 17, Cunningham jumped 1.94 meters to set the new national high school record. At the time, her performance ranked No. 3 in the world. One month later, she jumped 0.02 meters higher to record the under-18 world best performance. In 2016, she won the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a world-best jump; a week later, she won the world indoor championships. In 2017 and 2018, Cunningham won more national championships, including the 2017 Penn Relays. At 20 years old, Cunningham placed second behind world champion Mariya Lasitskene at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
As of July 2023, Cunningham held 13 United States high jump titles. Most recently, she won the 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, placed third at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, and placed fifth in the high jump final at the 2024 Paris Olympics at 1.95 meters. With these accolades on her back, she is set to make a splash at the 129th Penn Relays.
Mario García Romo, men’s mile
Romo is a Spanish middle-distance runner specializing in the men’s 1,500m race. Nicknamed “The Rocket,” Romo was the 2022 national champion in the men’s 1,500m race and later represented Spain at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.
Romo pursued higher education at the University of Mississippi, where he won a national title in the mile at the 2022 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and placed second in the 1,500m race at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Throughout his collegiate career, Romo was a seven-time NCAA D-I All-American and a six-time Southeastern Conference champion in both cross country and track. After graduating, he joined the On Athletics Club under coach Dathan Ritzenhein.
As a professional, Romo won the 1500m race at the Spanish National Championships in 3:35.52, qualifying him for the 2022 World Athletics Championships, at which he ultimately placed fourth. The following year, he qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. Romo is the favorite to win the men’s mile at the Penn Relays after notching the fastest qualifying time of 3:47.69.
Nozomi Tanaka, women’s 1,500-meter race
Tanaka is a Japanese middle- and long-distance runner specializing in events longer than 1,000 meters. The 25-year-old currently holds the Japanese records for the women’s 1,000m, 1,500m, 3,000m, and 5,000m races. She also holds the Asian records in the indoor 1,000m, 3,000m, and 5,000m races, among other indoor events.
A child of two competitive runners, Tanaka grew up with a racing spirit. In 2018, she competed at the World Athletics U20 Championships, where she won first place in the 3,000m race. Most recently, Tanaka represented Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, and competed in the 1,500m and 5,000m races. She set new personal records in both and placed eighth in the finals of the 1,500m race and 16th in the heats of the 5,000m race. Tanaka holds the second-fastest qualifying time among athletes competing in the women’s 1,500m race at the Penn Relays, at 3:59.19.
She is set to return to Franklin Field in May to compete in Grand Slam Track’s fourth and final competition of the season.
Nia Akins, women’s 800-meter race
Each time Akins competes at the Penn Relays, she has an edge on the competition: It’s her home turf. The former mid-distance Quaker competed in the 1,500m race in her last stint at the Penn Relays but will be running the 800m race this year, another of her specialities.
While at Penn, Akins was a two-time NCAA 800m race runner-up and, after graduation, she ran the second-fastest 800m race time in NCAA history of 2:00.71 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, encouraging her to turn pro in 2020. Under coach Danny Mackey of the Brooks Beasts track club, she finally became the U.S. national indoor champion in February 2023.
Later that year, Akins competed at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., where she was the fastest qualifier for the 800m race and won the final ahead of Raevyn Rogers, the bronze medalist in the 800m race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. From there, Akins moved on to the 2023 World Athletics Championships, where she set a personal best of 1:57.73 and finished in sixth place.
Most recently, Akins won the 800m race at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and reached the semifinals of the race at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In February, she claimed the 800m race title at the 2025 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
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