I’ve had the privilege of writing for the Daily Pennsylvanian for two full years now, and one particular date is seared into my brain: November 7, 2015. That particular day, undoubtedly, was the most entertaining of my Penn career thus far.

For those of you who were watching, and/or mesmerized by, the Copa America Centanario, you’ll have noticed a few things.

For most of Penn’s undergraduate population, the end of the final exam period signals the time for kicking back, relaxing and fondly looking back at the previous year. But for a very lucky, very small fraction of the student body, the onset of summer simply means business as usual. Playing on a varsity spring sport inherently carries the risk of playing past the school year’s conclusion, and 2016 was no exception.

As the country prepares for the Rio Olympics later this summer, an unprecedented delegation from Penn fought for places on the United States’ swimming roster. 14 Quakers flew to Omaha, Neb.

Though the Penn men’s basketball Class of 2020 has been more or less set for a while now, head coach Steve Donahue made things official when he unveiled the newest Quakers last week. “These young men possess the type of talent and character that good programs are built upon,” the second-year coach said in a statement.

As the country prepares for the Rio Olympics later this summer, an unprecedented delegation from Penn is in currently trying to fight for places on the United States’ swimming roster.

The women’s soccer program just released their schedule for the 2016 season, but you’d be forgiven if you thought they posted the wrong one. This season’s list of fixtures looks remarkably similar to last season’s, head coach Nicole Van Dyke’s first in charge of the Red and Blue.

The Copa America is now in knockout mode, with the preliminary stages of the competition now finished. But last weekend, the tournament certainly had knockout vibes running throughout Philly as three teams said goodbye to their Copa America dreams.

It’s the end of an era for Penn men’s track and field. After years of service leading the rebuild of the Quakers’ men’s program, senior superstars Sam Mattis and Thomas Awad donned the Red and Blue for the final time on Friday evening, competing in the discus throw and 5000-meter run, respectively, at the 2016 NCAA Track and Field Champions in Eugene, Ore.  Mattis finished in second place in the men’s discus throw earning his third consecutive first team All-American honors, while Awad took 22nd place in the men’s 5000m to secure an honorable mention All-America spot. Penn’s evening was opened by Mattis, who was the presumptive favorite in his signature event all season after setting a still-standing American-born collegiate record with a gargantuan toss of 67.45 meters back at the Philadelphia College Classic in March – a full sixteen feet further than the next farthest throw by an NCAA athlete in 2016, courtesy of Kansas’ Mitchell Cooper. But Mattis – attempting to become Penn’s first two-time national champion since Bruce Collins won the 400m hurdles in 1972 and 1974 – struggled early on, barely advancing into the final flight with a first round mark of 57.98 meters.

Penn men’s heavyweight and lightweight rowing competed at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

The stage is set in Philadelphia. The United States Men’s National Team has played in some pretty important and memorable games in recent history, notably including the last game of the group stage at the 2010 World Cup, which featured a famous last-minute winner from Landon Donovan to send the Americans through to the knockout rounds.

As spring semester ended and students prepared to embark on their various summer journeys, one women’s soccer player had reason to be especially excited. Erica Higa, a sophomore midfielder for the Red and Blue, traveled to Rwanda alongside fellow Penn Athletics representative coach Kerry Major Carr of women’s volleyball and around ten other Penn students and faculty as part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Rwanda Gashora Program. The program was created to explore the possibilities of using solar energy and information communication technology in low-resource communities in developing countries.

They made the cut. Seniors Tommy Awad and Sam Mattis are going to Eugene, Ore. to compete in the NCAA championships next week.

A lot of athletes might say they were born to play their respective sport. But a kid related to both the NCAA’s Division I-A single-season touchdown passing record holder and the winningest quarterback in Stanford history might have a slightly better argument. Such is life for California native and safety Conor O’Brien, who is one of 29 recruits joining Penn football’s Class of 2020 looking to help the Quakers begin their title defense. Needless to say, O’Brien needed no help being introduced to the sport.

The University of Pennsylvania football team will be welcoming 29 members of the Class of 2020 onto their team this coming fall. The new student-athletes — sixteen defensive players, 12 offensive players and one kicker — hail from 13 different states. 

Now that all of the times and marks have been recorded for the regular season, berths for the postseason have been confirmed — 16 track and field stars will be representing the Red and Blue in the first round of postseason meets, the NCAA East Prelims. 

Classes may have ended, but some students are facing finals of a very different variety. With the season coming to a close, Penn rowing has been competing in a host of monumentally important events, notching impressive results along the way.