Meet Leonel Manzano.

The multiple NCAA champion evenly paced himself through an increasingly competitive final leg of the men's distance medley relay, but sprinted away from the challengers in the final lap to give Texas the victory in one of the featured events of the day at Franklin Field.

The Longhorns posted a winning time of 9 minutes, 32.89 seconds. Stanford stayed close and took second in 9:33.16, while Villanova held on for third in 9:34.39.

It's the third consecutive year that Manzano, a candidate for the U.S. Olympic team this summer, has celebrated victory as the Longhorns' anchor in the DMR. Although there are no records showing how many athletes have finished up three straight wins in different events in the 114-year history of the carnival, it's certainly an exclusive club.

"We just come here to have fun," said the 5-foot-5 Manzano, a senior. "In a meet that's been around for 114 years, we've been able to come here and do what we set out to do. Everybody has that in mind when they come here. Their No. 1 goal is to win. Having done it three times, it's definitely been an honor to be here and share these wins with my teammates."

The DMR was one of the highlights of another dazzling weather day enjoyed by a crowd of 39,904.

Michigan's women made it 2 for 2 in the 4x1,500-meter relay, which again saw anchor Nicole Edwards holding off Tennessee's Sarah Bowman for the victory in 17:28.98. The women's team of Louisiana State ran a carnival-record time of 52.77 in the 4x100-yard shuttle hurdles relay, and Florida won the men's 4x120-yard shuttle hurdles in 56.24.

LSU concluded the day of competition with two victories in the sprint medley relay championships. West Catholic graduate LaTavia Thomas' 800-meter anchor leg propelled the Tigers to a decisive win in the women's race in 3:46.65, while the men edged Mississippi State at the wire for the win in 3:16.83.

The distance medley appeared as if it had evolved into a two-team race with Manzano and Stanford's Russell Brown taking the baton 30 meters ahead of third-place Villanova. But the measured pace set by the lead runners brought four other teams in the race by the time they reached the final lap.

Manzano, Brown and Villanova's Bobby Curtis broke away with 200 meters to go, and Curtis briefly looked as if he had a chance to catch the front-runners. But Manzano pulled away from the exhausted Curtis in the final straight and held off Brown to the tape.

"I definitely thought I was capable of [pulling away] toward the end," Manzano said. "I just chilled. I've got a couple of more races to run [today], so that being said, I wanted to make sure I did well enough to win."

Manzano, who ran with Erik Stanley, Danzell Fortson and Jacob Hernandez, clocked 4:01.8 for the 1,600-meter anchor leg and his fourth overall victory at the carnival. He said he would run the 4-x-mile today and possibly the 4x800.

Curtis was timed in 3:59.3, the second fastest of the competitors.

"That was a great run by Curtis," Villanova coach Marcus O'Sullivan said. "He didn't shut down. He has matured so much. He knew what he was doing. He's getting better and more mature all the time."

La Salle all-American Sean Quigley anchored the Explorers to a fifth-place finish in 9:37.15.

In the women's 4x1,500, Edwards took the baton for the final leg 15 meters ahead of Bowman, but the two were about one meter apart going into the last lap. Still, Edwards had enough in reserve to fight off Bowman, winning by just .14 seconds.

"She's a really talented person, and you have to give respect where it is due," Bowman said of Edwards, who won her fourth Penn Relays watch. "She's very good, because any day it can go either way. She got it twice."

Villanova's Frances Koons, running for the second straight day in her return after recovering from kidney cancer, clocked a 4:18.6 anchor leg to boost the Wildcats to third place.

In qualifying, St. Augustine's, the NCAA Division II indoor champion, and Florida qualified for today's championship races in three men's sprint relays. The Falcons had the fastest time in the 4x400 (3:04.64).

Other top qualifiers were Texas A&M in the 4x100 (39.37) and Tennessee in the 4x200 (1:21.52).