The Mt. SAC Relays are an annual track and field festival held primarily at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, California. The Relays are held in mid-April each year [1] since the first edition held on April 24-25, 1959. The meet was started by Mt. San Antonio College track coach Hilmer Lodge, and flourished under his direction until his retirement in 1963.[2] The meet attracts all levels and disciplines of the sport of Track and Field. They claim to have had as many as 9,000 competitors participate in a single year.[3] Because of the stature of the meet, the stadium and most meet literature contains the phrase "Where the world's best athletes compete".
While the relays are most famous for the elite division, where many notable athletes have used this event as an early season test of their fitness (before the championships that start in late May and June), there are races for small children from the community, Youth teams, and Masters athletes. A full day is largely devoted to High School events, attracting the top Southern California talent as well as others from out of town. International High School athletes from as far away as Australia and New Zealand have competed here, Mexico is represented regularly. There is a "Distance Carnival" which provides a rare (American) opportunity to run in a highly competitive track 10,000 metres race. The meet is a popular gathering for many elite throwers. Seven world records in throwing events alone, including four in the Discus have been set at the Mt. SAC Relays. A full multiple event competition associated with the meet (Decathlon for men and now Heptathlon for women) is held at Azusa Pacific University. Racewalking events are held earlier in the month, with occasional elite races held on the day of the elite competition. And with this meet being held at a Community College, there is a full competition for that level. While the relays started in 1959, the first women weren't allowed to participate until 1961, with one race, a 440-yard dash, out of a 113 event schedule.[2]
Past Directors of the Mt. Sac Relays include Hilmer Lodge, Don Ruh, John Norton, Scott Davis and current director, Doug Todd.
Due to construction of a new Hilmer Lodge Stadium at Mt. San Antonio College, the 2016 edition was held at Cerritos College in Norwalk and the 2017 and 2018 editions were held at El Camino College in Torrance.
Records
Over the course of its history, numerous national records in athletics and world records have been set at the Mt. SAC Relays including the world record in the 4×200m relay that lasted over 20 years (1994-2015).
Hoover B. Humphrey, C. Little, K. Horn, M. Nkoudou
2016
Related Research Articles
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the "quarter-mile"—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He previously held the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Rai Benjamin is an American professional hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 s. Benjamin won silver medals at his first Olympic Games in 2021 and at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022 in the men's 400 m hurdles, and gold medals in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2019 and 2021.
Cravont Charleston is an American track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. In 2023, he became the US national champion over 100 metres.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
