Go big or go home.
Penn track and field showed up and showed out for their third home meet of the indoor season, which saw many seasoned athletes make their 2026 debut.
Senior thrower Stella Inman opened the meet with a bang, shattering the standing meet record in the weight throw on her first lob in the preliminary flight. Inman improved the record on her second lob to break 19 meters for the first time this season, granting her a comfortable lead as she entered the finals.
The Windham, Maine native had another record-breaking performance with her final lob of the day, breaking the standing facility record by over a third of a meter. Inman’s 19.72m performance ranks 29th in the NCAA and 3rd in program history at the time of writing.
Senior high jump specialist and three-time All-American Kampton Kam made his senior season debut with a 2.11m performance. Kam enters the Ott Center after competing in the South East Asia Games last December, where he finished second to earn Singapore’s first medal in the event in thirty years. Kam earned the silver again on Saturday due to early failures, but he still surpassed the previous meet record mark.
On the women’s side, sophomore and reigning Ivy League Outdoor High Jump champion Zofia Limbert made her season debut on the bar with a personal best 1.73m jump for the silver. Fellow Quakers junior Samantha Strydesky, freshman Yuliya Maslouskaya, and freshman Lydia Merrick followed close behind, all landing at 1.68m for 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively.
Action on the track began with a dynamic women’s mile field featuring 2020 Nursing alumna and 2024 Olympian Nia Akins. Akins led at the gun, but was quickly overtaken by Villanova’s Tilly O’Connor in the first lap. It was neck-and-neck between Akins and the Villanova distance trio until the 800, when Akins unexpectedly pulled out. O’Connor and her fellow Wildcats dominated the rest of the race, each finishing under 4:40 to rank top-20 in the NCAA at the time of writing.
Senior Lara Cota made her season debut in the mile, climbing from fourteenth to tenth in the final three laps. Fellow Quaker Alexa Matora made her collegiate debut, finishing eighth overall. Cota and Matora both notably put up a negative split during the last 400 to finish under five minutes.
Short sprinters were corralled on the infield after distance action for the 60 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles. Program legends senior sprinter Fore Abinusawa and senior sprints and hurdles specialist Shane Gardner made their triumphant return to the Ott Center for their final season of indoor competition.
Abinusawa dominated the 60 from preliminary rounds, winning the first heat by over a tenth of a second. She kept up the pace for the finals, coming in at a blazing 7.32 to best the field by 0.15 seconds. Abinusawa’s performance is currently tied for 21st in the NCAA.
Gardner entered the indoor season coming off an injury that cut outdoor competition short last spring. He immediately asserted his dominance in the 60 meter hurdles, winning his heat in the preliminary rounds by over a tenth of a second with a 7.79s performance, running under the previous meet record mark. His time during the preliminary rounds ranks 22nd in the NCAA at the time of writing.
Gardner ultimately earned the bronze in the final after being bested by Rutgers’ Christopher Serrao and Princeton’s Greg Foster. Serrao bulldozed the field, breaking his own Ott facility record by almost two tenths of a second to finish in a blistering 7.55s. Serrao is currently ranked second in the NCAA.
After runners vacated the infield, competition returned to the traditional track and field set-up. Junior distance runner Lindsay Yakaboski climbed from sixth to third in five laps to finish in a personal record 2:54.58 in the 1000 meter run. Freshman Rianna Floyd got edged out at the line for the silver in her first collegiate 400 after leading most of the race.
Familiar foes took down standing facility records and established NCAA-leading performances. Former Arkansas All-American Jordan West threw 19.70 meters in the shot put to best the previous facility record by almost a meter. Princeton’s Georgina Scoot jumped 13.47 meters in the triple jump, establishing a new NCAA lead. Foster dominated the long jump, taking down the facility record established just last week with a 8.07 meter jump.
Penn’s standout sprinters swept away the competition once again as the meet came to a close. Freshman Jailyn Milord won her first collegiate 200 in 24.21, pulling away from fellow freshman Sofia Swindell off the final turn. Milord’s performance ties for eighth in the program record books.
On the men’s side, the Quakers went 1-2-3 in the 200, led by junior sprinter Nayyir Newash-Campbell. Newash-Campbell and fellow junior Ryan Matulonis were in an interesting predicament after the other two runners in their heat scratched. As iron sharpens iron, teammate sharpens teammate. Each Quaker gave it their all to finish in personal best performances. Newash-Campbell’s performance ranks 23rd in the NCAA and 2nd in the program record books at the time of writing, while Matulonis ranks 4th in the program record books.
Even more impressive performances look to follow the Quaker Invitational as the Penn track and field team sets their sights on the Penn Elite meet. Multi-event competition will begin on Thursday, Jan. 22nd, while traditional track and field events will begin on Saturday, Jan. 24th.
