British foes await Penn track & field in Ithaca

In a break from the usual grind, the Penn track team will have to fend off a British invasion this weekend.

On Saturday, the Quakers will travel up to Ithaca, N.Y., to co-host their biennial meet against Oxford and Cambridge with Cornell.

And unfortunately for the foreign duo, they’ll be catching the Red and Blue at exactly the wrong time.

Strong individual performances from both the men and women at North Carolina State’s Raleigh Relays last weekend have helped put the Quakers in a position to succeed.

Junior Maalik Reynolds, in a usual display of dominance, won the high jump with a final cleared height of 2.15 meters. But the real story for the Penn men last weekend was freshman Thomas Awad.

The East Norwich, N.Y. native won the 5,000 meters section with a blistering time of 14:04.75, a mark that not only was the third-fastest in school history, but also the sixth-fastest in the country this season at the time.

With a trip to NCAA regionals firmly booked, Awad has turned heads of many on the Penn coaching staff.

“He had a great kick his last 800 [meters], his last two laps were really strong to run the time to win that race,” coach Steve Dolan said. “He was great.”

The Quakers will also be expecting plenty out of their women’s side, which has never lost to Oxford and Cambridge in the long history of the competition.

Last week in Raleigh, the women’s team found some of its own entering the Penn record books as well.

Sophomore Heather Bong’s 100m time of 11.98 seconds was good enough to be the third-fastest time in Penn history, albeit wind-aided.

The Red and Blue also picked up an individual event win from senior Margaret Diacont, who won her section of the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:55.98. Her time was a personal best by 10 seconds and was the second-fastest time in Penn history.

“I was really happy for Margaret,” Dolan said. “I think there’s more to come. I think she’ll go faster as the year goes along here.”

Though the Quakers have traditionally outperformed their European rivals on the track, Saturday’s meet is more than just a competition.

After the conclusion of the day’s events, the two schools will accompany the Red and Blue back to Penn and spend a few days in Philadelphia as part of their United States tour.

“That’s going to be really neat to have both the [competition] and an interaction with them when they come to our campus,” Dolan said.
“And next year, we’ll go to England.”

But before the Quakers can book their transatlantic flights, they have business to attend to stateside.

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