Kovach, Reynolds advance in NCAA Championships

After a breakthrough season, Leslie Kovach is heading to Des Moines, Ia., to compete at the finals of the NCAA Championships.

The sophomore, who holds in the indoor and outdoor school record in the 5000 meters, used a sixth-place finish in the preliminaries to secure her spot at the championships. At 16:16.16, her time is four seconds from her personal best, which she set earlier this year.

Kovach will be joined by freshman Maalik Reynolds. Reynolds got back to his winning ways tying for first on attempts with a clearance of 2.17 meters. 2.17 become the cutoff as only 12 competitors could clear the mark. Reynolds qualified for the Indoor National Championship, but was unable to compete due to illness.

A few other Penn athletes had notable performances, but fell short progressing to the NCAA Championships.

Junior Victoria Strickland ran only the second sub-2:07 800 in Quakers history, but fell three-quarters of a second short from moving on. On the mens side of the 800, Darryl Oliver's 1:49.83 missed a top-12 finish by a half-second. Luke Grau also finished up an illustrious distance career at Penn. Although his 15:04.85 effort was less-than-stellar, the senior finishes up his career in top ten all-time at Penn in three different events, an outstanding feat that demonstrates his versatility and endurance.