Penn track & field's NCAA stars hope to shine on Friday

Out with the old, in with the new.

Kind of.

As the Penn track & field team heads out to Lehigh for the Fast Times Before Finals meet on Friday night, it’ll be without its long-distance runners who are fresh off their fall cross country season.

With second-year coach Steve Dolan at the helm, this past season was one of the Quakers’ most successful. Sophomore Thomas Awad and freshman Cleo Whiting, both Dolan recruits, each receive bids to compete in the NCAA Championships.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team picked up speed throughout the season, culminating in their best performances at the NCAA Heptagonal and Regional Championships.

“The distance runners are definitely excited about the way they finished this season,” Dolan said.

“But that group’s actually regrouping now — they’re just going to do some training and they won’t compete until January,” he continued. “The meet this weekend will be really focused on runners and jumpers and throwers that trained through the fall, so that’ll be the focal point of this meet.”

So now it’s time for the indoor track and field stars to shine. And for Dolan, that means a particular emphasis on the freshman class.

“I think we’ll have a lot of good competition for our returners,” he said. “But it’s always exciting in the first meet in the season for the freshmen, to see them for the first time in a Penn uniform, to see the impact of some of the new talent and student athletes joining us.”

And Dolan has already picked out some freshmen to watch.

“One of the things that’s really exciting is Noel Jancewicz,” he said. “She’s a very talented multi-event competitor so this’ll be fun in the first meet … she’s definitely a freshman to watch, for sure.”

And on the men’s side, Dolan knows which events he’ll be paying the most attention to.

“I think watching the shot put and the weight throw on the men’s side will be two of the more exciting events,” he said. “Billy Bishop and Noah Kennedy White are two freshmen who look really good in training on the men’s side.”

With all the hype surrounding the incoming class of athletes, it’s still impossible to forget about the returning stars of both the men’s and women’s teams. Almost all of this past June’s NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifiers for the Red and Blue — six out of seven on the men’s side and three on the women’s — are returning for this meet, and all 10 are returning for the season.

But whether freshman or senior, one thing’s for sure: Everyone’s itching to get back on track.

“They’re excited to compete because the whole fall kind of built up to this one chance to compete before winter break,” Dolan said.

After this meet, the teams break for a few weeks before swinging back into action at the start of next semester.

“The real challenge will be individually being motivated when they go home over winter break,” Dolan added. “Everyone’s set goals for this season as a team and individually so the motivation level is high right now.”

SEE ALSO

Whiting twins team up as ‘face’ of Penn cross country

Penn cross country turns in dazzlingly strong performance at NCAA Regionals

Penn cross country all geared up for regionals at Lehigh

Penn cross country’s youth is hoping to shine through at ‘Heps’

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