The runners have taken their places. It’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday in April, and the competitors are lined up in front of a crowd of over 40,000 at Franklin Field.

Like any aging lady, Franklin Field got a facelift this year — and it is a big one. The new surface of Penn’s track is immaculate — the colors pop out enough to make any graphic designer jump with joy.

Three Ivy League championships. Two All-American selections. Three qualifications at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Elite athletes of all varieties will head to Franklin Field this weekend, as collegiate superstars in several different events will use the Penn Relays to tune up for NCAA Finals and, hopefully, the Rio Olympics.

There’s succeeding, and then there’s success. When the Villanova Women’s Distance Medley Relay team collected its first Penn Relays title in 1984, not even the school itself could have predicted the decades of success that were to follow. The Distance Medley Relay, or DMR, is a race that is comprised of four legs, each of varying length.

Sometimes things just don't turn out as you expect them to. As the Penn softball team gears up for the final contests of the regular season this weekend against Columbia (13-30, 5-11 Ivy), that seems to be the overarching theme.

The state of Penn Athletics is strong — and it’s getting stronger every day.

He came to Penn with dreams of seeing the Quaker track team become a powerhouse, and leaves University City with dreams of racing in the Olympics.

Quite literally, it's anybody's game. A chance at the Ivy League title is at stake for Penn, and every other team in the conference. Penn baseball (18-19, 9-7 Ivy) will play a four-game series against Columbia (13-23, 7-9) this weekend, with Friday's doubleheader being played at Penn and Saturday's games to be played in New York.

For nine members of Penn women’s lacrosse, Saturday will be a day of lasts. The last time they head on an Academy bus for the six-hour trek up to Cornell.

When I first set out on being a sports reporter, I did it for a girl.

Last one, fast one. In their final cup race of the year, Penn heavyweight rowing is headed to Ithaca to take on Ancient Eight rivals Cornell and Dartmouth.

Don't let the name fool you, some members of Penn softball have become known for how hard they ball.

Slip slip, slide away. After lightning delayed the start of Tuesday's game by almost an hour, Penn men's came back from a three-goal, fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score 8-8, before falling in overtime to Philly neighbor Saint Joseph's, 9-8, in the team's regular season finale. “I think our biggest issue on the day was facing off,” coach Mike Murphy said.

The Ivy League basketball tournament is finally here. ... So what exactly does that mean? Ever since the Ivy League was formed in 1955, it has always stood apart.

Mostly unnoticed during the comeback and in the post match celebration, however, were the chants his teammates were belting out. They weren’t in English. Led by senior Ismael Lahlou, the chants for Pompan, the hero of the match, were in Arabic.

As Penn baseball coach John Yurkow was faced with the prospect of life without former co-Ivy League Player of the Year Austin Bossart following the 2015 season, he didn’t have to look all that far from home.