Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA, April 29–30, 1927
Relays, of course. The University of Pennsylvania quartet sprinted to victory in the 4x110-yard relay at the traditional Penn Relays. Their winning time of 41.6 seconds was the fifth-fastest in the world for the season.
Franklin Field almost invariably produced strong decathlon results in the 1920s. Vernon Kennedy toiled through ten events for the season's fourth-best combined score of 7227.405 points. His pole vault, in particular, was excellent, moving him into the lead in the overall points.
The value of Kennedy's final result is enhanced by the fact that it was compiled in eight hours, i.e., in a single day. However, Kennedy fell almost 800 points short of the world record set by Paavo Yrjölä of Finland.
Kennedy earned his master's degree in education in 1929. The following year, he was hired as a professional baseball player. Kennedy maintained his iron physical condition throughout his life, as he continued to win veteran track and field competitions even in his 80s.
Kennedy was not granted an Olympic trip, as he finished seventh in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1928.
British visitors were also seen at Franklin Field. David Burghley and Thomas Livingstone-Learmonth from Cambridge University, who had crossed the Atlantic, placed second and third in the long hurdles. Future U.S. champion John Gibson won the event, even though he was only in third place at the start of the final stretch. This allowed him to avenge his loss to Burghley at the Penn Relays in 1925.
200-meter Olympic champion Jackson Scholz won the 100-yard invitational race, defeating Henry Russell and Roland Locke, who was competing on the East Coast for the first time. The roles were reversed in the 220-yard dash, where Locke had clocked strong times in 1926. The Nebraska native burst out of the blocks like a cannon and easily beat Scholz. Due to the miserable rainy weather, there's not much more to tell about the times.
1–4 (Spalding’s Official NCAA Guide Book 1928)