The women's track team started off the outdoor season on the right foot. Sunday at Franklin Field, the athletes competed in the Quaker Invitational with 11 other area teams.
"There were a lot of different things that went well," Penn coach Gwen Harris said. "All the girls wanted to do more and figure out what they can improve on."
Senior Julie Siebert-Johnson's 46.93-meter javelin throw was good for a first-place finish. She also qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships.
In the long jump, junior Kai Ivory also turned in a good performance with a 17', 9.5" jump. She finished second, just .25 inches behind La Salle's Patricia Connelly.
"It was a good jump for me, even further than I jumped indoors," Ivory said. "We had a really tough training week so I was really happy."
Also happy was junior Michelle Hart, after starting off the 4x400m relay. After one of her competitors passed her, Hart regained her position during the last 100 meters of the race.
"I heard Coach Harris cheering for me while coming down the back stretch, and then I felt another gear kick in," Hart said.
Hart also competed in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and 4x100m relay prior to the 4x400. Her 15.35- second finish in the 100 was good enough for fourth place and her 1:05.57 400m earned her eighth overall.
Among the longer events, junior Emily Logan ran the 1500m in 4:45.94, good enough to top her personal record and finish in seventh.
"I was happy but surprised with my time," Logan said. "I didn't think I was running that fast during the race, but I also think I could have done better.
"It does, however, make me feel a lot better about the season. We usually start out a little slow, but I'm starting off where I usually end a season."
Also starting off the season on a positive note, freshman Charity Payne won the shot put with a 13.46m throw. She earned a spot in the ECAC Championships, something she did not achieve during the indoor season.
In the discus throw, the Quakers held three of the top five throwers in the event, led by junior Mikaelyn Austin in second place with a 41.32m throw.
Other successes include senior Meghan Moran's 11.42m and second place triple jump, the 4x800m relay's 9:44.40 win, and Ingrid Gustafson's 3.35m and first-place pole vault.
According to Ivory, the team had strong performances all the way around and can learn from the meet.
"It was a good opener," Hart said. "Now we have something to build off of and we have motivation for the season."
The team returns to the track next week at a relay meet in Raleigh, N.C.
