Former Penn and Paul VI runner Aliya Garozzo gets her homecoming in a return to Franklin Field

Now with Duke, Garozzo is the No. 2 seed in the 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays, the same event that saw her finish as a semifinalist at the Olympic trials.

Aliya Garozzo will return to Franklin Field on Thursday for the Penn Relays. The Duke grad transfer, who's from Sicklerville, competed at Penn for four years.Read moreCourtesy of Duke Athletics

by Conor Smith

Published April 24, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET

For Aliya Garozzo, running in the Penn Relays has become something of an annual tradition, dating back to high school.

However, this will be the first time she wears the blue and white of Duke. the former Penn standout is returning as a graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in public policy and will compete Thursday in the college women’s 400-meter hurdles (5:45 p.m., FloSports).

She ran at the Relays for Paul VI during her sophomore and junior years, but the event was canceled because of the pandemic during her senior year at Paul VI and her freshman year at Penn before returning in 2022.

“The Relays are super exciting,” Garozzo said just before the start of the 129th running of the event. “To me, it’s really just the tradition of celebrating track and field. Every time I’ve gone to compete, the atmosphere has just been amazing. Having so much support in the crowd of so many track and field fans, and then having so many athletes of all different ages.”

At Penn, Garozzo left her mark. In individual events, she has the fastest time in program history for the outdoor 400-meter hurdles (56.34 seconds) and the indoor 60-meter hurdles (8.29 seconds). She was also a part of 4x400-meter relay teams that broke the indoor and outdoor Ivy League meet records.

Her Penn career culminated in an Olympic trials appearance this past summer in Eugene, Ore. After finishing fifth in the 400-meter hurdles heat, Garozzo advanced to the semifinals, where she finished seventh.

“I was really thankful for that experience, and it definitely has motivated me to work even harder to get back to that level and get back on that stage,” Garozzo said.

New beginnings

The NCAA granted Garozzo and all athletes in her class an additional year of eligibility because of the pandemic. However, the Ivy League does not allow graduate students to compete. Garozzo had to transfer to compete another year.

She was joined by her former Penn teammate, Isabella Whittaker, in the NCAA transfer portal. Whittaker, a 2024 Olympian, opted to finish her college career at Arkansas while Garozzo stayed on the East Coast with the Blue Devils.

“I think that having this extra year of eligibility from COVID was really just a unique experience and opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of,” Garozzo said. “Being [on] Duke’s campus, in a lot of ways, is similar to Penn. I feel like the environment is similar, and the team culture is similar. It’s been cool having both experiences, but also seeing some similarities between them.”

Earlier this month, Garozzo won the 400-meter hurdles at the Duke Invitational in 55.77 seconds. Her finish is the sixth-fastest by a college runner this year in the event and the second-fastest in Duke history.

That time would be good for second place at last year’s Relays. Last year, Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland set a Relays record with a 55.36-second finish.

Coming home

Along with Franklin Field, Garozzo noted that she was excited to visit some of the other Penn landmarks, including Metropolitan Bakery and Cafe. She intends to take her Blue Devils teammates for a “good cup of coffee” at the cafe and shops on 40th and Walnut.

She also is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.

“In my years [at Penn], I had so much support, even from all the other parts of the staff, like the athletic trainers,” Garozzo said. “I’m really excited to just see everyone that was a part of that process.”

The feeling is mutual. Penn sprinter Fore Abinusawa, who will be competing in the 100 and 4x100, said she was excited to watch Garozzo race again.

“Aliya is someone who I see a lot of myself in,” said Abinusawa, a junior. “She’s someone that I always looked up to in my freshman year. Similar to me, she’s someone who is not necessarily always the loudest voice in the room and is more mellow and reserved. But you can see her dedication in the way that she practices and the way that she carries herself.”