Meet the best women’s athletes graduating in the Class of 2026.
Women’s swimming and diving — Sydney Bergstrom
Senior freestyle specialist Sydney Bergstrom impressed during her first year donning the Red and Blue, notching personal bests in multiple meets. In her sophomore year, Bergstrom stayed at the top of the conference with a fourth-place finish behind her two teammates and a competitor from Yale. Even amid adversity with the loss of Sheerr Pool in the 2024-25 season, Bergstrom reached a goal she’d been chasing: an NCAA berth. At the 2025 Ivy championships, Bergstrom earned the bronze medal and her first qualification to the national championships.
At the 2026 Ivy championships as a senior, Bergstrom claimed her first Ivy title in the mile, which was crucial in Penn’s second-place team finish at the championships — the highest in program history. With the title, Bergstrom automatically qualified for NCAAs, and her final meet as a Quaker could not have been a better ending to her career. On the national stage, she improved from 36th last year to a 12th-place finish in the mile with a time of 16:04.94 to earn All-American honors. Bergstrom joined an elite group of only three other All-American swimmers in program history, including her training partner Anna Moehn, also a senior freestyle specialist.
Women’s basketball — Simone Sawyer
Senior guard Simone Sawyer was a dynamic two-way player for the Quakers during her time at Penn, evolving from a scoring leader as a rookie to an all-around threat. In her freshman year, Sawyer was awarded Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice after multiple 18-point performances. That first year alone, she scored in double digits 10 times, accumulating 191 points in a single season. She continued her reign throughout her sophomore and junior seasons, making notable contributions to women’s basketball’s Ivy League tournament runs.
In her senior year, Sawyer embraced her role as one of the captains, leading the team with an average of 11.5 points per game alongside an average of 4.5 rebounds. The Lincolnshire, Ill., native also finished first in the Ivy League and 21st nationally with an 88.1% free throw percentage. She consistently made her mark in her final season, delivering 17 double-figure performances and three 20-point games while ranking amongst the team leaders defensively with 42 steals.
Women’s cross country — Lily Murphy
One of the most consistent distance runners on the women’s cross country team, Senior distance runner Lily Murphy’s time at Penn is coming to an end. Murphy’s career highlight came when she qualified for and competed at the 2024 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships, although she did not finish the race.
Fast from the beginning, the New Jersey native consistently improved throughout the years. She set personal bests in the 5K and 6K in her senior cross country season, but was ultimately unable to compete at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships due to injury. In her final weeks as a Quaker, she has a qualifying time for NCAA East Regionals, and will undoubtedly look to make it to Nationals again.
Women’s fencing — Lenna Choi
Senior foil Lenna Choi made an indelible impact for during time with the Red and Blue. After a 19-win freshman season, Choi’s best season came during her junior year, when she earned honorable mention All-Mid-Atlantic/South Region honors after a 22-14 regular season record and a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional.
Choi concluded her Quaker career with a number of strong showings, including an 8-2 performance at the Brian Palestis Memorial Invite and nine bout wins at the 2026 Ivy League championships.
Field hockey — Julia Ryan
Senior midfielder Julia Ryan set the tone for her Penn career in her freshman season, winning the team’s Rookie of the Year award. She made the second team All-Ivy in all three remaining seasons and developed into the team’s top goal scorer, setting a career high in goals and points in her senior season. She also led the team in both categories in her junior and senior seasons. A team captain and leader by example, Ryan hopes the team will continue to grow even as her time comes to an end.
Women’s golf — Julie Shin
Over four years at Penn, senior Julie Shin built one of the most decorated resumes in Penn women’s golf history. In her rookie season, Shin was in the lineup for all nine tournaments, maintaining a 76.1 stroke average and earning second-team All-Ivy. During her sophomore season, Shin improved, recording a team-low 74.7 strokes. During her junior year, Shin routinely finished as Penn’s top performer. Her most notable performance was at the Ivy League championships, where she placed fifth, shattering a program record for a low 54-hole score and becoming the first player in program history with two under-par rounds at the same championship. In a single year, she earned second-team All-Ivy, ILC All-Championship Team, and Academic All-Ivy honors.
Shin concluded her Quaker career at the 2026 Ivy League championships where she individually tied for an 11th placement, and helped the team finish at fourth.
While recounting her four years at Penn with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Shin said, “I’ve been blessed to have such a great team.”
Gymnastics — Skyelar Kerico
Senior Skyelar Kerico leaves Penn gymnastics as one of the most decorated gymnasts in program history. Kerico was named GEC Gymnast of the Year in 2024 and 2025 and qualified for the NCAA regionals in 2025, the first Quaker to do so since 2013. She played a key role in leading one of Penn’s most dominant eras in gymnastics, as the team won five consecutive Ivy Classic and conference titles, including this season.
Though Kerico did not compete her senior season due to injury, she has consistently been one of the program’s strongest performers, setting Penn program records in the all-around and vault events, twice for the latter. Kerico was also the Ivy Classic champion in all-around in 2024 and 2025, as well as bars in 2025. She was the first Penn gymnast to win three individual conference titles in a single season, capturing titles in the vault, bars, and all-around events during the 2025 GEC Championships.
Women’s lacrosse — Natasha Yajadda
A defensive force for Penn women’s lacrosse, Natasha Yajadda leaves the program as one of its most impactful defenders. As a senior, Yajadda led the Quakers with 22 caused turnovers, earning second-team All-Ivy honors. This year, she also scored her first three collegiate goals in matches against Towson and Brown during the regular season. In a standout game, she led the team defensively in a double-overtime win against Princeton, causing a team-high four turnovers to help secure the win.
In 2025, Yajadda caused a career-high 23 turnovers, including a career-high four in the NCAA quarterfinals against Northwestern. She also picked up a career-high 27 ground balls last season.
Women’s rowing — Silvia Harrop-Lopez
Senior Silvia Harrop-Lopez worked her way from Third Varsity as a freshman to a seat on the Varsity Eight as a senior. Harrop-Lopez competed at the 2025 NCAA Rowing championships on the Varsity crew, helping the Red and Blue place 18th nationally. In 2023, she was a member of Penn’s Collegiate 4+ boat that placed first at the Navy Day Regatta. She also competed in the international Henley Women’s Regatta as a freshman.
Women’s soccer — Annabel Austen
Senior goalkeeper Annabel Austen stepped into a starting role in her junior season and never looked back. Across her two seasons in the role, she collected two first-team All-Ivy selections and five Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week awards. She made 136 saves across her career and conceded only 33 goals. In her senior season, she had a save percentage of 0.814 and allowed just 1.17 average goals per game, with four shutouts.
Austen will transfer to USC — a team that regularly sends players to the National Women’s Soccer League — for her final year of eligibility in hopes of starting a professional career.
Softball — Kelly Zybura
Senior pitcher Kelly Zybura has proved herself to be a steady offensive presence on the team. She pitched more than 290 innings across her four seasons at Penn. Notably, Zybura threw only the third perfect game in Penn softball history against Dartmouth in 2026.
In the series, she pitched five innings, not allowing any hits, walks, or baserunners, and struck out four batters in an 11-0 victory. With her performance, Zybura helped Penn secure its first Ivy League series win of this season.
Women’s squash — Malak Taha
Senior Malak Taha quickly showed her prowess when she joined Penn women’s squash in the 2022-23 season. She earned first-team CSA All-America, Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and first-team All-Ivy honors in her freshman year. As a senior, Taha earned second-team All-Ivy honors in 2026. She helped Penn win the CSA National Team Championship this year, the team’s first since 2000.
Women’s tennis — Maya Urata
Senior Maya Urata left a mark on the program during her four years with the Red and Blue. She consistently left impactful performances on both the singles and doubles courts. After an extremely strong freshman season with 16 singles wins, Urata went on to post a 21-5 singles record during her sophomore year against key Ivy League competitors, earning an ITA Scholar-Athlete honor.
In her junior year, she maintained this prolific singles performance with a 12-6 overall and 5-1 Ivy singles record, helping women’s tennis secure a second-place Ivy conference finish that earned her an All-Ivy honorable mention in doubles. During her final home match against Cornell in her senior season, Urata clinched the win for the Quakers in her singles match.
She concluded her career with the Red and Blue by earning a CSC Academic All-District honor.
Women’s track and field — Moforehan Abinusawa
Senior sprinter Moforehan Abinusawa leaves Penn having reset a number of program records. She holds the indoor records for the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, as well as the outdoor record for the 100-meter dash. She also shares the Ivy League record in the 60m. The Pennsylvania native is also second in program history in the outdoor 200m, only behind 2024 College graduate and Olympian Bella Whittaker.
Abinusawa garnered All-Ivy selections across all four of her seasons and qualified for the NCAA championships twice, one of them for an individual race and two for relays. The Quakers’ sprints relay squads will miss her, with Abinusawa playing a part in six out of the top seven 4x100-meter relay times in program history. She has also competed internationally, representing Nigeria since 2024.
Volleyball — Anna Shohfi
A two-year captain of the volleyball team, senior setter Anna Shohfi has been an offensive cornerstone for the Quakers. In her freshman year, she led the team in assists, and she came second on the team in all three consecutive seasons. Shohfi leaves with 863 total assists and 327 digs, making her an indispensable player to a young Penn team.
Throughout her years at Penn, she also sought involvement off the court, serving as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and working with the Penn Athletics Wharton Leadership Academy.
