Ndhlovu Posts 14:32 At Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA – Representing the UNCP Braves this evening at the Penn Relays in the 5000m event, newcomer Pardon Ndhlovu posted a 14:32.84 finish to come within a second and a half of his personal best time in the event and finish 19th out of 48 runners.

The UNCP men's track and field squad sent Ndhlovu and Maurice Eubanks to Pennsylvania this weekend to compete in the Penn Relays. The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895, by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Harare, Zimbabwe, native posted a 14:32.84 in the 5000m event that hosted 40+ runners. Ndhlovu's time from the Penn Relays is nearly one second off his personal best 14:31.41 that he found at the Shamrock Invitational earlier this year.

Ndhlovu's 19th place finish in the event placed him ahead of 10 NCAA Division I runners, and a full second ahead of the 20th place finisher.

The Penn Relays have more than 22,000 entries this year, about half of whom will be high school athletes, and the three-day attendance is likely to top 110,000 for the third year in a row. Saturday attendance has averaged 48,000 for the last six years, and makes the meet the best attended track event in the United States each year, and one of the best attended in the world.

Through 115 editions of the meet, more athletes have run at the Penn Relays than at any single meet in the world. More spectators have watched the meet than any in the world except the Olympics and World Championships.

Competition will continue at the Penn Relays on Friday when Eubanks competes in the 100m dash at 3:20 p.m. – results will be posted HERE and fans can watch the races live HERE.

Other members of the Black and Gold will be competing in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday at the NCAA II Southeast Region Championships hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory.