SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Susquehanna University will send a total of 10 athletes to the 113th Penn Relay Carnival, which will be held from Thursday through Saturday at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

On Thursday, senior All-American Emily Lepley will be in action in the 400-meter hurdles beginning at 10:00 a.m., the women's 4x400-meter relay team will run in the annual Centennial/MAC relay at 6:15 p.m., and senior Heather Matta will compete in the steeplechase beginning at 8:00 p.m.

On Friday, junior John Calvo will compete in the pole vault beginning at 3:00 p.m., and the Susquehanna men will participate in the annual Pop Haddleton MAC Relay at 5:20 p.m.

Lepley (Lewistown, PA/Lewistown) competed in the 400-meter hurdles at last year's Penn Relays and finished in a time of 1:02.06. She won the 2005 NCAA Division III championship in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.20, and is a six-time All-American in the hurdles.

Matta (Redlands, CA/Westfield, MA) is the defending Middle Atlantic Conference champion in the steeplechase, and has a season-best time of 11:26.50 set at Bucknell on April 14. She also holds the school record in the event of 11:06.20 which she set in 2006.

The women's 4x400 relay team will consist of Lepley, junior Sarah Burkhardt (Hoffman Estates, IL/Schaumburg) and freshmen Lauryn Dugan (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg) and Abby Montgomery (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville).

Lepley and Burkhardt each ran in the event last year, when the Crusaders finished fifth out of 10 schools with a time of 4:09.45.

For the men, the Crusaders will enter a 4x400-meter relay team of junior Eric Johnson (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East), sophomore Jon Kunhardt (Greenfield, MA/Frontier Regional), senior Justin Hill (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) and senior Joe Wassink (Staten Island, NY/Petrides School).

The Crusaders finished third in a field of 11 teams with a time of 3:23.43 last season with a lineup that included Johnson, Kunhardt and Wassink.

Calvo (Pennington, NJ/Lawrence) is currently tied for 12th in the Division III rankings in the pole vault with a school-record height of 15 feet, 11 inches set at Bucknell on April 14.

More than 22,000 competitors will participate in over 425 races at this year's Penn Relays, which has been held annually without interruption since 1895 and is the largest and oldest relays meet in the world.