One of the most iconic and largest annual track and field gatherings in the region, the Penn Relays, welcomed a groundbreaking first-time participant this year: St Mary’s College (SMC), the very first secondary school from Saint Lucia to ever compete in the prestigious event. A five-member student squad represented the island nation at the meet, which draws more than 1,000 competing schools and athletic clubs from across North America and the Caribbean, and turned in a performance that observers have called exceptional for a debut team.
The team’s historic participation was made possible through a generous primary sponsorship from Hamilton Reserve Bank, which covered the costs of sending the squad and accompanying support staff to the event hosted at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the traveling party was Dr. Clarence Henry, a parent accompanying the team who has publicly shared his enthusiasm and pride for the young athletes’ results.
Against a stacked field of more than 600 high school 4x100m relay teams, SMC’s squad secured a win in their qualifying heat and finished 295th overall, landing firmly in the top half of all competing teams. In the 4x400m relay, the young Saint Lucian runners earned second place in their heat and notched a 355th overall finish out of 532 competing squads.
Henry emphasized that these results are even more impressive when accounting for the team’s lack of prior experience at the elite, large-scale event. “Most of the schools competing here are regular Penn Relays participants,” he explained. “They know what to expect from the track, they understand the unique pressure of this competition, and they have years of experience on this stage. Our boys were stepping onto this platform for the very first time.”
Against that backdrop, Henry said the team’s results exceed any expectations he held ahead of the meet. “Five incredibly talented young men got the chance to prove their abilities against the best competition in the region, and they rose to the challenge. To win your 4x100m heat, take second in your 4x400m heat, and place in the top half of hundreds of elite teams? That is an excellent performance, by any measure.”
While neighboring Caribbean nations including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have long sent multiple schools to compete at the Penn Relays, 2026 marks the first time a Saint Lucian school has earned a spot at the event. Beyond the immediate results, Henry says the debut has already opened new doors for Saint Lucian track and field, with local schools already lining up to participate in future years.
“This has been a goal of St Mary’s College for a long time, but it’s only now that it’s finally come to fruition,” Henry told reporters from St Lucia Times. “Now that this first barrier has been broken, doors are open for future teams. We’ve already gotten commitments to sponsor at least two or three Saint Lucian schools for future Penn Relays events.”
The historic debut has created far greater opportunities for competitive Saint Lucian runners to test their skills against top international competition, Henry noted, adding that the island’s top competitive high schools will almost certainly prioritize securing a spot at future iterations of the event, now that sponsorship support is lined up. He closed by thanking Hamilton Reserve Bank for its critical support of this landmark moment for Saint Lucian athletics, and expressed hope that more local corporate partners will step up to back future participation.