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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Orange women made a statement on the national scene on day two of the Penn Relays, as they finished fifth in the 'Championship of America' heat of the 4x1500m relay on Friday, April 23. Syracuse was represented by senior Maegan Krifchin, junior Katie Hursey and sophomores Lauren Penney and Heather Stephens, who finished in 18:00.46 in the 12-team competition, which included six teams that finished in the top 25 in the 2009 cross country rankings.

"It's another step onto the national scene for our women's program," said head coach Chris Fox.

Syracuse out-performed Duke (18:03.65), the Southeast Region's top team in the 2009 cross country rankings, and Princeton (18:06.75), who finished its 2009 cross country season ranked No. 3 in the nation. Tennessee won the event with a time of 17:14.91.

Hursey (4:26.9) set the pace for the Orange in the opening leg, while Penney followed suit in 4:28.4. Stephens (4:35.6) and Krifchin (4:29.6) completed the relay to result in the top five victory.

Graduate student Bernard Bush represented SU in the field events and finished with his third IC4A-qualifying mark in the long jump this season (7.22m). He earned his best mark of 2010 at the ASU Sun Angel Classic, where he jumped 7.26m.

In Thursday's action, senior Melissa Romero posted an NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 1.75m in the high jump. Romero, who finished third, was joined by fellow seniors Uhunoma Osazuwa and Annabelle Pellerin. Osazuwa finished seventh and earned an ECAC-qualifying mark of 1.73m, while Pellerin jumped 1.64m for 18th place.

The third and final day of the historic Penn Relays will commence on Saturday with the Olympic Development Men's 10k Racewalk at 7 a.m. Bush will begin SU's competition with the triple jump at 9 a.m.