After recording impressive results in the Quakers’ first three meets of 2017, including a second-place individual finish at the Main Line Invitation, Hong’s expectations for the season are higher than they have ever been before.

From the moment he stepped onto that track in Franklin Field, Dolan knew he had a special runner in Chris Luciano.

With so many contenders, our staff faces off to debate: Which team has the best chance to finish the fall as an Ivy League Champion? 

Now, riding an incredible wave of momentum, the Quakers turn their attention to the Paul Short Invitational. After the Red and Blue take the 90 minute trek up to Bethlehem, both the men and the women will be greeted with the longest course that they have seen thus far. The men have an 8K, and the women face a 6K —a mile longer than the previous longest course.

The men’s team finished first and the women’s team finished second in their respective fields of five teams. Competing along with Penn were Villanova, Haverford, Lehigh and Swarthmore. 

Despite the graduation of some of their best runners, the Penn men’s and women’s cross country teams got off to a scorching hot start at the Rider Invitational. To the outsider, this would seem like a surprisingly dominant result. To senior Chris Luciano, it was anything but.

The men, on their way to a dominant first-place finish, packed a remarkable nine runners into the the top ten spots. Leading the charge was senior captain Christopher Luciano, whose 15:24.79 was just milliseconds behind the event’s top finisher, Zachary Michon from St. Joseph’s.  

The Penn Cross Country program has never been more successful than it was in 2016. So much so that Coach Steve Dolan said that their accomplishments “raised the bar in terms of what’s possible.” While the team has entirely new leaders this season, the mindset remains the same: the Quakers are the team to beat in the Ivy League.

There's a lot to catch up on, but here's an overview of the seven Penn Athletics programs in competition this fall:

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.

This past Friday, Penn cross country took on some of the nation’s best — and the men and women proved that they were up for the challenge. Out of 31 teams, which included seven of the nation's top twelve women’s teams and six of the top twelve-ranked men’s teams, the Quakers finished 14th and 20th, respectively.

The cross country team continued their winning streak this weekend with both the men’s and women’s teams taking first at the Main Line Invitational on Friday afternoon.

Most students on campus last Friday stayed cooped up in an air-conditioned room, shying away from the unbearable Philadelphia heat. The Penn cross country teams did not.

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.

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.

Although Penn boasts countless spectacular student-athletes, the most impressive aspect of their success may not even be the athletic success itself.