The Mt. SAC Relays are an annual track and field festival held primarily at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, California. The Relays are held in mid-April each year [1] since the first edition held on April 24-25, 1959. The meet was started by Mt. San Antonio College track coach Hilmer Lodge, and flourished under his direction until his retirement in 1963.[2] The meet attracts all levels and disciplines of the sport of Track and Field. They claim to have had as many as 9,000 competitors participate in a single year.[3] Because of the stature of the meet, the stadium and most meet literature contains the phrase "Where the world's best athletes compete".
While the relays are most famous for the elite division, where many notable athletes have used this event as an early season test of their fitness (before the championships that start in late May and June), there are races for small children from the community, Youth teams, and Masters athletes. A full day is largely devoted to High School events, attracting the top Southern California talent as well as others from out of town. International High School athletes from as far away as Australia and New Zealand have competed here, Mexico is represented regularly. There is a "Distance Carnival" which provides a rare (American) opportunity to run in a highly competitive track 10,000 metres race. The meet is a popular gathering for many elite throwers. Seven world records in throwing events alone, including four in the Discus have been set at the Mt. SAC Relays. A full multiple event competition associated with the meet (Decathlon for men and now Heptathlon for women) is held at Azusa Pacific University. Racewalking events are held earlier in the month, with occasional elite races held on the day of the elite competition. And with this meet being held at a Community College, there is a full competition for that level. While the relays started in 1959, the first women weren't allowed to participate until 1961, with one race, a 440-yard dash, out of a 113 event schedule.
Past Directors of the Mt. Sac Relays include Hilmer Lodge, Don Ruh, John Norton, Scott Davis and current director, Doug Todd.
Due to construction of a new Hilmer Lodge Stadium at Mt. San Antonio College, the 2016 edition was held at Cerritos College in Norwalk and the 2017 and 2018 editions were held at El Camino College in Torrance.
Over the course of its history, numerous national records in athletics and world records have been set at the Mt. SAC Relays including the world record in the 4×200m relay that lasted over 20 years (1994–2015).
| Year | Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Long jump | 8.21 m (0.0 m/s) | Ralph Boston | ||
| Shot put | 20.06 m | Bill Nieder | |||
| Discus throw | 59.91 m | Rink Babka | |||
| 1962 | Pole vault | 4.93 m | Dave Tork | ||
| 1963 | Discus throw | 62.62 m | Al Oerter | ||
| Decathlon | 9,121 pts | ||||
| 1964 | Discus throw | 62.94 m | Al Oerter | ||
| 1976 | Discus throw | 69.18 m | Mac Wilkins | ||
| 1981 | Heptathlon | 6,166 pts | Jane Frederick | ||
| 1994 | 4 × 200 m relay | 1:18.68 | Santa Monica Track Club Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard, Carl Lewis | ||
| 1996 | 3000 m steeplechase | 10:34.5 | Sara Heeb | ||
| 1998 | 3000 m steeplechase | 10:19.6 | Karen Harvey |
| Event | Record | Athlete | School | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 10.39 | Ray Brown | John Muir | 1984 | ||
| 200 m | 20.86 (+1.8 m/s) | Nickolas Miller | Clovis North | 15 April 2023 | [37] | |
| 400 m | 46.49 | Michael Granville | Bell Gardens | 1995 | ||
| 800 m | 1:51.06 | Nick Hartle | Centennial | 2012 | ||
| Mile | 4:00.16 | Cooper Teare | St. Joseph | 14 April 2017 | [38] | |
| 3200 m | 8:54.74 | Evert Silva | Fresno | 14 April 2017 | [39] | |
| 110 hurdles 39"/.99m | 13.48 (+1.7 m/s) | Johnathan Cabral | Agoura | 2011 | ||
| 300 m hurdles | 36.7 | Gordon Bugg | West Covina | 1983 | ||
| High jump | Jeremy Fischer | Camarillo | 1994 | |||
| Randall Cunningham II | Bishop Gorman | 2014 | ||||
| Pole vault | Lafayette | 15 April 2017 | [40] | |||
| Long jump | 1979 | |||||
| Triple jump | Ken Williams | Troy | 1982 | |||
| Shot put 12Lb./5.4 kg. | Van Mounts | Bakersfield | 1998 | |||
| Discus throw | Kamy Keshmiri | Reno | 1987 | |||
| 4 × 100m relay | 40.72 | Long Beach Poly | 2010 | |||
| 4 × 200m relay | 1:24.35 | Long Beach Poly | 1999 | |||
| 4 × 400m relay | 3:13.71 | John Muir | 1981 | |||
| 4 × 800m relay | 7:37.09 | Great Oak Nick Sams, Nelson Quintana, George Binni, Isaac Cortes | 2015 | |||
| 4 × 1600m relay | 16:52.95 | Great Oak I. Cortes, S. Fountain, C. Spencer, S. Dodds | April 2016 | |||
| Sprint medley relay 2-2-4-8 | 3:23.5 | Compton | 1980 | |||
| Distance medley relay | 9:58.24 | Newbury Park L. Young, Z. Blunt, A. Sahlman, C. Sahlman | April 2022 | |||
| Shuttle hurdle relay | 56.77 | Upland D. Crawford, D. January Jr, D. Davis-Lyric, K.-G. Graves-Blanks | April 2022 | |||
| Event | Record | Athlete | School | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 11.40 | Angela Williams | Chino | 1997 | , | |
| 200 m | 22.51 (+1.3 m/s) NHSR | Allyson Felix | L.A. Baptist | 2003 | ||
| 400 m | 51.99 | Shae Anderson | Norco | 15 April 2017 | [41] | |
| 800 m | 2:06.89 | Cate Peters | Monte Vista | April 2022 | ||
| Mile | 4:31.72 NHSR | Sadie Englehardt | Ventura | 19 April 2024 | [42] | |
| 3200 m | 10:08.01 | Maddy Denner | Oak Ridge | April 2018 | ||
| 100 m hurdles | 13.24 | Brittley Humphrey | Hoover | April 2016 | ||
| 300 m hurdles | 40.97 | Ebony Collins | L.B. Wilson | 2006 | ||
| High jump | NHSR | Vashti Cunningham | Bishop Gorman | 2015 | ||
| Pole vault | Rachel Baxter | Canyon | April 2017 | |||
| Long jump | (+1.8 m/s) | Courtney Corrin | Harvard-Westlake | 2013 | ||
| Triple jump | Ashley Anderson | Carson | 2014 | |||
| Shot put | Stamatia Scarvelis | Dos Pueblos | 2014 | |||
| Discus throw | Billie Jo Grant | Arroyo Grande | 2002 | |||
| 4 × 100m relay | 45.22 | L.B. Wilson | 2006 | |||
| 4 × 200m relay | 1:36.77 | Long Beach Poly | 1994 | |||
| 4 × 400m relay | 3:42.38 | Kennedy, Granada Hills Denean Howard, Tina Howard, Sherri Howard | 1981 | |||
| 4 × 800m relay | 8:59.12 | Buchanan Grace Hutchison, Elle Lomell, Sierra Cornett, Tayler Torosian | 14 April 2023 | [43] | ||
| 4 × 1600m relay | 19:48.81 | Newbury Park A. Hawkins, T. Sax, M. Nygren, S. McDonnell | April 2022 | |||
| Sprint medley relay 2-2-4-8 | 3:53.28 | L.B. Wilson | 2003 | |||
| Distance medley relay | 11:41.84 | Torrey Pines | 2010 | |||
| Shuttle hurdle relay | 57.89 | Hoover B. Humphrey, C. Little, K. Horn, M. Nkoudou | 2016 | |||