Outside of those involved with Penn sprint football, not many expected the Quakers to be players in the CSFL title race. Yet, come late October, there they were.

“Safety School! Safety School! Safety School!” The year is 2007. I am a brazen and beautifully snarky middle school student sitting with a group of 10 friends at Jadwin Gym for a Princeton-Penn men’s basketball game.

“Mike isn’t even here tonight — he’s president of an a cappella group — he’s gotta audition people, he’s doing that and he can throw the ball 60 yards.” Sometimes your quarterback has to miss practice because of injury.

Chaz Augustini is still playing varsity football at a Division 1 school. But this year, it's a bit different. Augustini, a wide receiver, will have an entirely new setting when he lines up for the Quakers this Saturday.

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.

A trip to Nebraska is an intriguing prospect. It’s hard to know what to expect — there’s really not a whole lot there. Except for an NCAA powerhouse in men’s soccer, that is.

On Saturday, the Quakers looked to their past to get ready for their future. In a final tune up before the season, the sprint football team held its annual alumni game, as the team took on recent graduates of the program.

There are nine days until Penn football kicks off its 2016 campaign. That’s 22 days after the first college football game of the season. Sports buffs out there will know that the first game, a matchup between Cal and Hawaii on August 26 in Sydney, Australia, is in the FBS division whereas the Quakers' first game against Lehigh on September 17 at 5 p.m.

A week into the year, it's time to say definitively who is good and who is not. What has impressed you most so far from Penn Athletics?

It’s become nearly as much a staple of Penn sprint football as longtime coach Bill Wagner himself.

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.

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.