SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Susquehanna University will send a total of eight athletes to the 112 th 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, junior All-American and defending Division III national champion Emily Lepley will be in action in the 400-meter hurdles beginning at 10:00 a.m. while the women's 4x400-meter relay team will run in the annual Centennial/MAC relay at 5:20 p.m.

On Friday, the Susquehanna men will participate in the annual Pop Haddleton MAC Relay at 5:40 p.m.

Lepley (Lewistown, PA/Lewistown) won the 2005 NCAA Division III championship in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.20. On April 15, Lepley ran a season-best time of 1:02.56 to finish second at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic, a time that is the third-fastest in Division III this season.

The women's 4x400 relay team will consist of Lepley, junior Heather Matta (Holyoke, MA/Westfield ), sophomore Amanda Janicki (Pittsford, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) and sophomore Sarah Burkhardt (Hoffman Estates, IL/Schaumburg)

Lepley, Matta and Janicki each ran in the event last year when the Crusaders finished fifth out of 12 schools with a time of 4:06.67, while Burkhardt will be making her Penn Relays debut.

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

The Crusaders finished second in a field of 15 teams with a time of 3:21.85 last season, behind race winner Elizabethtown . Capkin will be competing in the race for the third time in a Susquehanna uniform while Wassink will be running for the second straight year. Both Johnson and Kunhardt will be making their collegiate debuts at the Penn Relays.

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.