Season Heating Up for Penn Track

Senior distance runner Megan Powell gives us an inside look at the Quakers' upcoming meet at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton.

The Quakers are coming off of an exciting two weeks, which included hosting athletes from Cambridge and Oxford last week, and competing at George Mason for one of the biggest collegiate invitationals this past weekend. Before the Brits came to Philly, they lost a dual meet in which Penn teamed up with Cornell in to take the win. Great performances were had, with one of the most significant being Conner Paez’s return race after over a year and a half of intense PT and training following an accident that left him in recovery at the start of the 2011 school year.

Both teams enjoyed the great opportunity to get to know the Brits, which was especially interesting since Penn hosted athletes from the University of Birmingham in England just last year. Next year, Penn and Cornell will hold a dual meet against each other to form a team that will then go overseas to be hosted in return.

As for George Mason’s Invitational the team traveled to this past weekend, the hard work continued to pay off. Sophomore Heather Bong, who has had an increasingly impressive season thus far, had an incredible performance when she broke the eight-year-old 100m dash record with a time of 11.83 seconds, placing her at the top of the coveted Penn Track record board, and earning her 4^th overall at the meet.

Fellow Sophomore Tom Timmins also continued to impress with a a victory in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 52.23 seconds. His time puts him at number 10 in the all-time Penn record books, which is no small feat considering he is one of only three Penn athletes to crack the all-time in that event in over 20 years.

Both teams will travel to Princeton for the Larry Ellis Invite this weekend, which, for some, will be their last opportunity to race this season. The season is gearing down with a few last intense meets ahead. Still, training continues with tough workouts and weekly lifts in conjunction with morning practices and traveling for weekend meets- the life of a track and field athlete is not to be underestimated. Everyone is looking forward to the massive event that is Penn Relays in the next two weeks, which is followed by our Heptagonal Ivy League Championship, and then ECACs/IC4As for those who qualify (which is looking to be good company considering the impressive performances the team has seen this season so far).