The Ivy League is Heating Up for Penn Track

Penn senior distance runner Megan Powell gives us an inside look at Penn track & field as the Relays await...

This past weekend the track team traveled to Princeton for the Larry Ellis Invitational Friday and Saturday. For a lot of sports at Penn, being good in the Ivy League does not translate to the rest of the NCAA Division I. For track, this is NOT the case; the Ivy League is one of the most competitive conferences in the country, and hosts some of the top athlete entries that go on to compete in the NCAA Championships. That being said, any time we get to compete against other Ivy League teams it is a great opportunity to gauge the field and get some great results. This was especially true this past weekend since the competition was held at the very place where the Heptagonal Ivy League Championships will be held in a couple of weeks, at Weaver Stadium in Princeton May 4^th and 5^th.

There were a lot of impressive performances moving up in the Penn record books and taking good places, with one notable race by junior Chelsey Delaney, who keeps getting better each week, with a PR time of 4:30.82 in the 1500m, which roughly translates to a 4:50 mile (that’s FAST).

For the men’s team, the 4x100-meter relay team started Saturday’s events off to a thrilling start, by just edging out Princeton’s team by one-hundredth of a second for a time of 42.00, with the team of Seck Barry, Mason Smith, Kyle Webster, and Chad Payne. Many other Quakers had career bests and placed at the top of the competition on both the track and field, as they continue to gear up for the final weeks of competition ahead.

Some Penn athletes also traveled to Widener to compete. There, Conner Paez continued his compelling comeback to running by improving five seconds from his first 1500m race back with a time of 4:14.44. Paez’s story of fierce commitment has been so inspirational to the running community he was chosen as LetsRun.com’s Inspirational/Blue Collar Runner of The Week.

This time of year is always so dramatic with everything reaching its pinnacle - finals for school and continued hard training for the most important competitions of the season, compacted with the pressure of the Penn culture to find jobs and summer opportunities.

Still, the team is out there every day - rain, shine, or lacrosse balls flying - fighting until the end. We’re now looking forward to competing and volunteering at the famous Penn Relays as teams from all over the world come to our fair city this weekend. The Relays really are the most entertaining part of the regular season, with everything from top competition in collegiate events, to Olympic-standard competitors, to even a 75+ men’s 100m dash. It’s always been a privilege and sincere honor to wear the Penn ‘P’ on our chests during this event as every other team comes to our home turf, and it is sure to be a surreal experience for seniors waiting in the paddocks and cheering in the stands for the last time as current athletes.