For Penn wrestling, hopefully the stress of exams coupled with the joy of the holiday season will enable it to put the first half of the wrestling season behind it as the Quakers prepare for the Midlands Championships on Dec.

On Dec. 27, the men’s and women’s squads fly down to Florida for a ten-day intensive training trip. In preparation for the remainder of the Ivy season, the Ivy Championship and, potentially, the National Championships, the Quakers will endure coach Mike Schnur’s swimming boot camp.

Live by the three, die by the three. Tuesday night, both Penn basketball and Marist found themselves embodying opposite clauses of that basketball cliché.

When the second half began, the Quakers came alive, defeating the Hawks, 66-51, to end a two-game losing streak.

We took a look at some key issues for Penn Athletics in our second annual columnist issue. Whether it is Jerome Allen's job security, student apathy, the Penn-Princeton rivalry or the very definition of Penn Athletics, we tried to give you a better understanding of the issue at hand, one column at a time.

When was the last time you heard of a Penn athlete who achieved national celebrity status? For most current Penn students, the answer to this question is probably “never.” This is not necessarily a problem of student apathy towards Penn athletics, however, but rather a reflection of Penn’s priorities as a university.

This season, the two schools will tip off for the 231st and 232nd time in the historic matchup on dates that are inconvenient for the majority of Penn’s student body. But that is this year. It absolutely shouldn’t become a trend, especially if you want students to be engaged with the best of Penn traditions.

Now that it is about to wrap up, what can we say about Grace Calhoun’s first semester as Penn’s athletic director? One thing is for sure: is is moving in the right direction toward addressing student apathy.

No matter what Penn basketball accomplishes -- or doesn't accomplish -- this year, every single narrative surrounding the program will tie into the degree of proverbial heat underneath the chair of a certain coach in his fifth full season.

But say what you want about the lack of titles — Penn Athletics has plenty to learn from and build off of the fall that was.

It seems that there are four constants in the world today (to borrow a frequently posted tweet from CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein): Death.

The Red and the Blue lost against No.11 Lehigh decisively on Saturday in Bethlehem, as the Mountain Hawks emerged with a definitive 31-6 victory at home.

In their last competition before winter break, Penn men’s and women’s swimming both emerged victorious from the annual Total Performance Invitational Meet and broke quite a few records along the way.

Sunday afternoon proved to be heartbreaking at Ringe courts for Penn men’s squash. In a match where four positions in the ladder were forced to five games, only one of them went Penn’s way.

If Saturday is any indication, this could be a fun year for Penn track. In their first indoor track meet of the season and the last before break, the Red and Blue picked up victories in an impressive 15 events at the Lehigh Fast Times in Bethlehem, Pa.

Spurred on by their most balanced attack of the season, the Quakers (2-5) built an early lead on the road against Binghamton and never looked back in a 79-70 triumph.

For Penn women’s basketball, the difference between the first half and the second half of Friday’s game was night and day.