Edwards, Serita Williams, Danielle Tauro and Geena Gall combined for a winning time of 10 minutes, 49.58 seconds. Tennessee, the 2007 winner, was second in 10:50.51, and Stanford finished third in 11:05.48. Host Pennsylvania was sixth.
"It was a tremendous effort on all four legs," associate head coach Mike McGuire said. "Super performances by everyone."
Michigan's time was the second-fastest college DMR clocking, behind Villanova's 10:48.38 from 1988, also at the Penn Relays. It was the fourth overall Relays title for the Wolverines, who claimed the 3,200 and 6,000 relay last year. Michigan last won the DMR at Penn in 1985.
After Williams (3:22.2), Tauro (53.4) and Gall (2:02.1) kept Michigan near the lead through the 1,200, 400 and 800, respectively. Edwards then settled in just strides behind Bowman in the 1,600 and waited for the right moment to make her move.
"Sarah Bowman is a very talented runner, and I felt I'd do my best just to hang on and keep up with her," Edwards said. "She set a really tough pace and did all the work.
"I just tried to hang on."
Edwards decided to challenge Bowman with about 150 meters left.
"With 150 to go, I felt like I was ready to go," Edwards said. "I didn't want to go too soon. At about 150 I felt I could kick it in. With how my training has been going, I felt strong in the last 100 meters."
Edwards closed out the victory with a leg of 4:31.9. Bowman's anchor leg was 4:32.9.
Tauro, from nearby Manahawken, N.J., competed with Southern Regional High last year and was anxious to return to Penn this year.
"After we had a great meet here last year, it is exciting to come back," Tauro said. "The spirit of Penn is really exciting."
Michigan will use the same quartet to try and defend its 6,000 relay title Friday.
Brittany Sheffey (3:24.4), Latonya Loche (51.5), and Phoebe Wright (2:01.7) rounded out Tennessee's second-place team.
In the college women's 400 relay, defending champ LSU got off to a quick start by turning in the 10th-fastest Relays time of 43.54 in the opening qualifier, but Texas A&M bested the Tigers in the next heat.
The Aggies' Allison George, Porscha Lucas, Simone Facey and Gabby Mayo sped to a 43.40 finish, the sixth-fastest in the history of the competition.
LSU's Jaunita Broaddus, a Philadelphia native who has been running at the Penn Relays since middle school, said she and her LSU teammates were satisfied with their opening salvo.
"We're happy," Broaddus said. "It's the first time we got all our sticks together the way coach wanted it. We're really happy and satisfied because our goal was to get the stick around the track and not worry about the time. We never worry about our time because it is going to come."
Texas A&M and LSU will meet in the finals Friday. Earlier this month, the Aggies got the best of LSU at the Texas Relays, finishing in 42.97 to the Tigers' 43.10.
In the college women's 400 hurdles, Wake Forest senior Michelle Loyd took the top spot in 58.95, and was one of just two hurdlers in the field to finish in less than a minute. Penn State's Megan Duncan was second in 59.53, and Leslie Njoku of Georgia Tech was third in 1:00.27.
Loyd, coming off a seventh-place finish at the ACC Championships last week, overcame a chest cold to win the Relay's first event.
"I executed my plan," the senior from Durham, N.C., said. "I just wanted to stay smooth the whole way, just relax and then kick it in on the hot spots."
In the men's Olympic Development steeplechase, Anthony Famiglietti beat his own Relays record, finishing in 8:24.34 and narrowly beating his 8:25.02 in 2004.
Leah Kincaid of Purdue won the long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 9½ inches; Ashley Harbin of Lafayette took the hammer throw at 201-3; and Katelyn Rodrigue of LSU cleared 13-7¼ to win the pole vault.
The shot put was won by Candis Kelly of Texas Christian (51-3), and Katelyn Williams of West Virginia (5-9¾) took the high jump. Kara Patterson of Purdue (184-0) won the javelin, and Connecticut's Tynisha McMillan took the discus with a throw of 156-3. In the girls high school pole vault, Easton's Abigail Schaffer set a Relay's record, clearing 13-0¾ and beating the 12-8 by Easton's Lindsay Regan in 2006.
The Relays are dominated by high school boys and college men's competition on Friday. Saturday's lineup is highlighted by six "USA vs. the World" relay races featuring a number of past and prospective Olympians.
