Keeping their eyes on the prize.
Penn track and field showed out for a slate of away meets last weekend. While most of the team stayed in Pennsylvania for the Paul Donahue Invitational at Widener University, some sprinters and jumpers went down south to Florida for the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational.
Senior multis specialist Jake Rose took a solo trip to Mt. SAC Relays in Southern California, scoring 7,362 points for a 14th-place finish in the men’s elite decathlon.
Paul Donahue Invitational
Senior sprinter/jumper Daniella Oyenuga and freshman sprinter Simeon Adams swept the short sprints in a dominant fashion. Oyenuga broke 12 seconds in the 100-meter dash for the first time in her career, lowering her personal record by nearly three-tenths of a second. Her 200-meter dash personal record also fell by over a second, moving her to No. 7 in the program record books.
Adams clocked personal records in his outdoor collegiate debut in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. In the 100-meter dash, his specialty, he ran 10.43 seconds with barely any wind to beat the field by over three-tenths of a second. Adams moved to No. 6 all-time in the program record books with his outdoor debut.
Sophomore hurdler David Davitt switched his focus to sprints late last season. He proved to be a great addition to the Quakers’ sprints squad after picking up a silver medal in the 400-meter run in a personal-best performance. Davitt stayed with SUNY Geneseo sprinter Jacob Miller up until the finish line, stopping the clock at 47.14 seconds.
Senior hurdler Annika Topchy took the crown in the 400-meter hurdles, lowering her program all-time mark while beating the field by two seconds. Topchy also led off the 4x400-meter relay, handing off to freshman sprinter/hurdler Ava Nebel a mere 55 seconds after the gun fired. Nebel took over, solidifying the Quakers’ lead by over a second as she handed off to sophomore sprinter Milan Ramey. Although she primarily specializes in short sprints, Ramey held down the fort with a quick 57.83-second lap around the track. Junior jumps specialist Simone Castelluccio took the baton from there, anchoring the squad to the win.
Sprinters weren’t the only ones commanding the oval. Freshman distance runner Aoife Shovlin made her collegiate debut in the 5K on the oval, running a personal-best 17:56 for 12th place out of 89 finishers. Fellow freshmen distance runners Adèle Martin and Alexa Matora kept up with the professionals, finishing 3rd and 4th in the 1500-meter Elite run behind a pair of unattached runners who exhausted their collegiate eligibility.
Freshman distance runner Vinay Raman lowered his No. 7 all-time program mark with another victory in the 800-meter run. This marks the third meet in a row that Raman has lowered his outdoor personal record and his second consecutive victory. Although Raman was behind SUNY Geneseo distance runner Ryan Hagan and fellow Quaker, senior sprinter Alec Jackson during the first lap, he came back from behind on the second lap. Raman, who is a former DP Sports staffer, closed in 54.67 seconds– the fastest split in the field by over half a second.
Sophomore distance runner Quin Stovall returned to her signature event – the 800-meter run – for the first time this season. Stovall toed the line with fellow sophomore distance runner L’Mio Edwards and 2020 Nursing graduate Nia Akins, who holds the 800-meter run program record and competed for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics. Stovall displayed remarkable grit during the race, propelling herself from sixth to second place as the second lap closed. With a new outdoor personal record and a silver medal, Stovall made her mark on the outdoor program record book for the first time in her career.
Senior distance runner Nick Carpenter took the gold in the mile with a sea of Quakers support behind him. Carpenter comfortably led the collegians throughout the race, finishing in front of the field by over two seconds. The Florida native recorded a blistering 59.21 seconds on his last lap around the oval.
Junior distance runner Sarah Fischer closed out the impressive performances on the track with a 19-second victory in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Fischer, who only began contesting the steeplechase last season, has gone back-to-back at the Paul Donahue Invitational. Her mark is 25 seconds faster than she was at this time last year.
Off the track, senior jumper Kampton Kam cleared bar after bar to claim his first gold medal of the outdoor season. Kam raised his season best by two bars, comfortably clearing the 2.08-meter and 2.12-meter bars for the title. Kam, who won a Penn Relay Carnival title in the high jump last year, will have a few more chances to take down the long-standing program record mark as his senior season winds down.
Junior jumper Samantha Strydesky also secured her first title of the season with a victory in the women’s high jump. Strydesky entered the competition two bars in and comfortably cleared her first three bars without any misses. Freshman jumper Lydia Merrick finished right behind her, earning the silver after fouling on her first jump at the 1.65-meter bar.
Freshman pole vaulter Rebecca Hoover took home the final gold medal of the night with her first collegiate victory. Hoover recorded an all-time personal record with a 3.85-meter vault on her first attempt.
Tom Jones Memorial Invitational
The Tom Jones Memorial is widely considered the beginning of the professional outdoor season, with Olympic gold medalists like Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, and Noah Lyles in attendance this year. As such, the events were split between collegiate, invitational, and olympic development sections, similar to the upcoming Penn Relays.
Freshman shot put specialist Jessica Oji improved her Ivy record with a 18.31-meter lob on her last throw, throwing over 60 feet for the first time outdoors. She ultimately earned a silver medal behind two-time Jamaican Olympian Lloydricia Cameron, who only outperformed Oji by one foot.
Junior sprinter/hurdler Ryan Matulonis supplied another impressive 400-meter hurdles performance with a 49.42-second finish for fourth place in the invitational field. Although he missed the podium in the event for the first time this season, Matulonis kept up with seasoned Olympians and All-Americans like Trevor Bassitt, who reset the 2026 world lead with his 47.82-second performance at the meet.
Freshman sprinter Rianna Floyd built on an already impressive season with a 53.78-second finish in the 400-meter run, good for No. 6 in program history. Floyd finished 13th overall in the open 400m, beating out stiff competition from SEC stalwarts while running into a headwind. She also displayed impressive consistency while running against the wind in the 200-meter dash, finishing 36th overall behind fellow freshman sprinter/hurdler Sofia Swindell.
Freshman sprinter Jailyn Milord proved her talent last weekend. The odds were stacked against the Floridian as the only mid-major runner in her first elite collegiate field. Milord showed out in her home state, cracking 53 seconds in the 400-meter run for the first time in her career and moving to No. 3 in program history.
Penn track and field will return to Franklin Field for the final time this season to compete in the 130th Penn Relays from April 23-25.
