At the 2017 iteration of Heps, the men’s squad finished in third place while the women’s came in at seventh place. In this year’s edition, both the men and women took a small step back: fourth place for the men, eighth place for the women.

This Saturday at Princeton — the host of the Ivy Heps — Dolan’s runners will get their chance.

In their last tuneup before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship, Penn men’s and women’s cross country teams competed against nationally-ranked teams at the Penn State National Open in State College, Pa. 

This season, Penn cross country has called upon a core of exceptionally strong underclassmen. A large number of the Quakers' scorers at each meet have come from fresher faces.

Although injuries have kept a few of the best runners for Penn men’s and women’s cross country off the course, both teams are ready to move past them as the Quakers head into the most important stretch of their schedule.

Before the starting gun sounds at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in a few short weeks, the Quakers will travel across the state for a final tuneup.  

Both the men and women of Penn cross country are very familiar with the Garden State, with double-digit numbers on each team representing the state to our east, totaling nearly half of each group.

The Quakers went back to back this weekend, with some of the men's team competing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis. on Friday and the rest of the men and women's team racing the next day at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem Pa.

The Quakers will be split between two meets over the weekend: the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wis. on Friday, and the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa. on Saturday. 

While both the women and men were bested by the Wildcats, each squad finished best among the rest in second place out of six and seven, respectively. 

This Friday, Penn men’s and women’s cross country will travel to nearby Haverford College to compete in the Main Line Invitational, an early-season race that the Quakers have regularly competed in.

Both teams were victorious at the Bison Open at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., scoring a total of 29 points each in the one-day meet.

Friday’s Bison Open at Bucknell will serve as an early season benchmark for young Penn cross country.

Competing at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, the men and women saw their seasons come to an end as the teams both finished sixth. Both teams would have needed to finish in the top two out of more than 25 teams in each field to advance as a team to Nationals.

Last week hurt for Penn cross country, but there’s no time for the Quakers to hang their heads — the next chapter of their season begins on Friday.

This Friday, at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, has the potential to be the greatest, most successful day in the history of the University of Pennsylvania’s cross country program.

At Friday’s Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, the men’s side came in 24th of 35 total teams, and the women placed 31st from a pool of 33. Saturday’s Princeton Invitational saw the Quakers finish in seventh of 21 teams on the men’s side and ninth on the women’s of 20.