The Harvard women's track team sent three of its top athletes to Philadelphia on Wednesday to compete in the 2000 Penn Relays.

Junior captain Brenda Taylor, sophomore Carrie McGraw and freshman Amanda Shanklin all ran in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles early Thursday morning.

Taylor finished fifth with a time of 58.91 seconds. McGraw earned a 21st-place finish with a time of 1:02:38. Shanklin's run of 1:03.16 placed her 26th in the 50-person field.

Taylor's fifth-place finish was an improvement over her 10th-place finish and time of 59.49 seconds at the 1999 Penn Relays. Taylor first proved herself to be a major competitor on the national scene when she posted an Olympic cut-time of 57.29 seconds at last year's ECAC Championships.

The event was won by Peta-Gay Gayle of Alabama in 57.85 seconds. Gayle is ranked fifth out of collegiate athletes in the 400 hurdles, while Taylor is ranked eighth. Tanya Jarret, who won the event at last year's Penn Relays, chose not to run this year. Jarret is the top ranked collegiate 400 hurdler.

The Harvard track team will be back in action on Sunday afternoon against Boston College in the only home meet of the season. The BC meet will be the team's last tune-up before the Heptagonal Championships, which begin on May 13th.