MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Sahara Brown (Center Barnstead, N.H.), fellow junior Nacho Hernando-Angulo (Logrono, Spain) and sophomore Tyler McLaren (Pepperell, Mass.) will become the first Southern New Hampshire University student-athletes to compete in the prestigious Penn Relays. The trio will make the trek to historic Franklin Field for the 121st edition of the event, which spans from Thursday morning through Saturday evening.
Brown will compete in the College Women's Javelin Throw Championship, while both Hernando-Angulo and McLaren will partake in the College Men's 10,000-meter Championship.
"Honestly, I'm simply excited for them to have this opportunity," said Lex Butler, head coach of the Southern New Hampshire University women's track and field team, as well as both the men's and women's cross country programs. "I was able to run at Penn Relays in college and it is one of my most memorable athletic experiences. As an athlete, the opportunity of being able to rub elbows with Olympians, future Olympians and top NCAA athletes on historic Franklin Field is an experience of a lifetime."
Brown qualified for the Penn Relays by virtue of her 43.07-meter toss in the javelin at the Wesleyan Spring Classic, as well as the Corsair Classic Invitational. She has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships and earned a berth in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship after capturing the event in both of the aforementioned meets.
"The opportunity for Sahara to compete at such a prestigious event as the Penn Relays, started back in September," Butler said of Brown. "She trained incredibly hard for seven months before being given the chance to show what she could do. She punched her qualification early, and we thought it best for her to get out of the area and go against other top javelin throwers in the nation."
Hernando-Angulo and McLaren, two of Southern New Hampshire's top men's cross country runners during the fall of 2015, garnered spots in the Penn Relays after strong showings at the 2016 Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College on April 15. Hernando-Angulo finished third overall with a time of 14 minutes, 33.17 seconds, while McLaren crossed just behind him in 14:33.56.
In his first year at the helm of the Penmen women's track and field, men's cross country and women's cross country teams, Butler has seen immediate success with all three programs. A former All-American at the University of Colorado and a former assistant coach with the Buffs and at the U.S. Naval Academy, Butler has experienced high levels of achievement as both a student-athlete and coach, and envisioned bringing those same results to Southern New Hampshire University.
"When I came on as head coach, I hired a dedicated staff that had the same vision as I did: set the bar to become a national caliber program and give our student-athletes every opportunity to compete on the national stage," he said. "Everyone in the Northeast has heard of Penn Relays and everyone in the nation, involved with track and field, knows of Penn Relays. Being able to qualify three athletes our first year is a big deal. I believe our involvement in this nationally contested meet, after a single year, shows our current student-athletes and coaches' dedication to building a solid program."
Butler went on to add, "The Penn Relays is only the first of many national meets I see in our future. I hope to include events such as the Drake Relays, Texas Relays and Mt. SAC Relays, as well. I think our programs' desire to go where the best competition is will resonate with student-athlete recruits, who want to be part of building a nationally-recognized program."
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