It’s good to be back. Penn cross country will get its first taste of competition on Friday at the Big Five Invitational at Belmont Plateau.

About a month into her new role as assistant cross country coach, Juli Benson calls the position “a dream come true.”

Ask any member of the Penn cross country team and they will tell you that their focus lies on the months ahead.

Collegiate athletics always brings challenges to teams who have to deal with radically different rosters every year. But this year, Penn women's cross country caught a break.

It’s not uncommon for graduating seniors to leave holes in a team’s roster -- but this particular one is about the size of the Grand Canyon. With the departure of all-world runner Tom Awad, Penn men’s track and field will look to adjust to life without the two-time defending Ivy Heptagonal champion.

Penn men’s soccer, still nursing the wounds of last season, nevertheless enters a new year with optimism and a set of fresh, young faces who will look to make their mark on the field.

Two games into the 2016 season, Penn men’s soccer is undefeated. It’s also winless. 

2015 was a year to forget for Penn men’s soccer. Three wins from 16 games, including just one against a conference opponent.

After a stellar start to the 2016 season, Penn men’s soccer will be looking to this weekend’s trip to Nebraska as an opportunity to assess the team’s improvement and depth. This Friday’s contest against #8 Creighton (1-1-0) followed by Sunday’s clash against University of Nebraska Omaha (2-1-0) provide two difficult matches in three days, the only time this season that the Quakers (0-0-2) will have such a short turnaround. Interestingly, the two Nebraska universities will come into the weekend having played each other in their most recent game, Monday night.

The final boxscore never seems to tell the whole story. That was certainly the case for Penn field hockey in both games played this weekend: a dominant 2-0 victory over Lehigh as well as a hard-fought and well-contested effort in a 6-2 loss versus UNC. On Friday, the Quakers (1-1) hosted Lehigh (1-2) in the Red and Blue’s season opener.

The Quakers messed with Texas, and while their record is worse to show for it, morale is certainly not headed down south.

It seems the lack of success last year can be attributed to two main points: youth and injuries to the team’s few experienced leaders. In 2016, look for those issues to be almost completely resolved.

If you got to Rhodes Field 10 minutes late for Sunday’s game, then you missed a couple of things. 

You know the old saying, “new year, new me?” Well, Penn men’s soccer is taking that to heart this brand new season. Flip back the calendar a year, and the Quakers limped out of a 4-0 loss to high-power American University team.

College sports have two different philosophies when it comes to the buildup to conference play: some teams prefer to ease into the big games, building confidence, while others prefer to test themselves and raise the stakes. Penn women’s volleyball has taken the latter approach this year. Over the next three weekends, the team will play in three tournaments against a myriad of opponents from across the country.

For a typical head coach, summer vacation might signal the time to hit the recruiting trail, scheme for the upcoming season and enjoy the rare opportunity to unwind with the constant frenzy of the school year taking a brief pause. But Penn volleyball coach Kerry Carr did things a tad differently.

Kerry Carr could have opted to select her whole senior class as the team's group of captains for a second straight year.