Despite the storm, Penn track and field is preparing to co-host the Philadelphia College Classic on Friday at Franklin Field. After exceeding expectations during the indoor season, Penn’s throwers and jumpers are gearing up for a big outdoor season.

Riding tremendous waves of momentum from the indoor season, Penn track and field's high-flying sprinters have their sights set on Ivy League glory — and beyond — this outdoor season.

This Friday’s Philadelphia College Classic marks the kickoff of the outdoor season, and for many freshmen the first opportunity to compete at Franklin Field wearing the Red and Blue.

Penn track and field teams boasted record-breaking times and history-making performances this weekend at the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships in New York City. On the women’s side, the Red and Blue earned a total of 13 podium performances to finish second overall. The Penn men weren’t able to find the remarkable success that their female counterparts had, but some epic individual performances exemplified their drive to rank themselves among the very best.

Track and field’s indoor season may be one of the shortest in college sports, but it’s nearing a dramatic finish as Penn prepares for the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships this weekend.

This weekend, a number of winter sports teams wrap up their seasons with Ivy League championships. While women's swimming and men's squash finished up last week, their opposite-gender counterparts along with gymnastics and indoor track and field all compete this weekend for postseason glory. 

Over the past month, the Quakers have been tearing up the indoor circuit in the six meets they have competed in since winter break. Only half of those competitions had team scoring, but a quick look at the individual results shows a Red and Blue side that has been dominant in multiple areas.

It’s a fitting end to the career of an athlete who has been described as a “breakout.” In her senior year, Ashley Montgomery led the Quakers to their first-ever appearance as a team at the NCAA Championship over the weekend at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. Montgomery led the team with a 13th place finish and an average pace of 5:23 for the six kilometer course, crossing the finish line in 20:07.1.

Penn Cross Country qualifying for Nationals didn’t play out in the way you’d expect. The women, having just placed third as a team at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship meet, spent the first half of the ride back to campus with their collective breath held.

In the wake of an exhaustive election season during which major party candidates displayed questionable leadership qualities, it will perhaps bring some amount of solace to know that the future of the men’s and women’s cross country team rests in caring and capable hands.

At the end of a historic week, marked by the results of the presidential election on Tuesday night, Penn Cross Country added a little history of their own, with the women’s team earning the program’s first selection to the NCCA Championships, placing third at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals on Friday “It is very exciting,” Coach Steve Dolan said after learning that the women’s season would continue for one more week.

After historically successful outcomes for Penn Men’s and Women’s Cross Country in the Ivy League Championships, both teams now turn their attention to the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, where they look to build on the remarkable performances of this season. “I think we’re ready to run great races,” said head coach Steve Dolan.

The men’s cross country team started Postseason racing with a bang on Saturday, as they captured their first Ivy league title in 43 years.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, as far as Ivy League cross country teams are concerned. This Saturday, two dozen of Penn’s fastest men and women will be making the short trip up to Princeton’s West Windsor Fields for the annual Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.

Did nationals come early this year? This Friday marks one of the most important meets in the Penn cross country season as both the men’s and women’s teams travel to Madison for the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. 

What difference does an extra few thousand meters make? Evidently not much: the Quakers seemed unfazed as the distance ramped up at Lehigh in longest race they’ve seen so far this year. Both Penn cross country teams had powerful finishes today at the prestigious Paul Short Invitational.

On October 2, Penn cross country will travel to Lehigh to compete in the Paul Short Invitational, where both the men and women will kick off their seasons in earnest.  The Quakers are coming off of first-place performances in two early-year tuneups, the Big 5 Invitational and the Main Line Invitational.