It's been a pretty successful summer for Penn sports in general, and more than a little of that success is due to Quakers alums who have shined in various postgraduate endeavors.
The big news on the alumni athletic scene this summer was the performance of Brandon Slay at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in Dallas in mid-June.
Slay, 24, the former Quakers star and reigning national champion defeated his former coach, 33-year old Penn assistant Brian Dolph in the finals to earn his slot on the team in the 167.5-pound slot.
"If you heard a loud snap during the match, that was my heart," Reina told reporters at the time.
As the national champ, Slay had an automatic bye to the finals. Meanwhile Dolph, 33, had to win three matches in a row in the round robin elimination tournament just to have the chance to face his training partner and former pupil.
Meanwhile, former Penn fencing standout Cliff Bayer won the NCAA Division I men's foil title, which merely solidified his position as one of the world's top fencers. He had already secured his second berth on an Olympic team by virtue of his gold medal in the foil at the World Championships in Bonn, Germany.
Bayer's friend and '94 Penn alum Tamir Bloom also qualified for the Olympics for the second time in the epee.
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