The Quakers lost three close showdowns to highly-ranked  teams at the Stanford Invitational  in California this past weekend, yet the athletes developed chemistry that made the cross country campaign a success.

There are no two ways about it: 2013 was a transition year for Penn cross country, but the program still had its fair share of bright moments.

After a subpar defensive performance in 2013, the Quakers will look to their remarkably experienced and accomplished defensive back seven to spark a run towards an Ivy title in coach Al Bagnoli’s final season.

Since moving to Vagelos Field last year, field hockey has been one of Penn’s most exciting sports. 

However, while the score lines of Penn men’s soccer’s west coast games this weekend were not what the Quakers wanted, the team showed a great deal of resilience against two talented opponents. Penn fell 2-0 and 3-1 to Seattle and No. 10 Washington, respectively.

The Red and Blue (2-2) began the weekend with a strong 4-2 win against Fairfield, but gave up two late goals in a losing effort against Liberty.

Penn volleyball visited California this weekend for the Stanford Tournament, falling to three high-quality opponents: Santa Clara, No. 1 Stanford and No. 20 Duke. However, the Red and Blue took away a wealth of experience with eight players from the Golden State returning home for the weekend.

Penn women’s soccer struggled to find consistency on either side of the pitch, falling to William & Mary for its first loss of the season, 3-0.

Senior Emily Corcoran and freshman Alexa Hoover scored two goals apiece on attack while senior goalkeeper Allison Weisenfels made three saves to preserve the victory.

On Friday evening, the men’s and women’s Red and Blue squads started off their fall seasons with a bang, blowing away the neighborhood competition at the annual Big 5 Invitational.

Penn women’s soccer looked like it was going to eek out another one-goal victory but a late St. Francis (Pa.) goal led to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at Rhodes Field

The adage goes: “it’s a marathon, not a sprint”, but starting a distance race on the right foot sure can’t hurt.

In what will be the team’s longest and most-challenging road trip of the season, the team will benefit from the ability to have a home away from home with the families of their players.

After a solid opening weekend at Vagelos Field, Penn field hockey will look to use two more nonconference games to shape into form ahead of Ivy play.

On the athletic field, however, there seems to be no need for a comparison or ranking:  The Ivy League schools play each other for Ivy titles, and the stats clearly say who is the best — after all, the Ivy League is primarily an athletic conference.

A few short days after a tough nonconference loss to Delaware, Penn volleyball will get a shot at No. 1.

Penn women’s tennis lost one of its all-time greatest coaches back in November 1996 when Cissie Leary died of scleroderma. This weekend, the team will once again uphold her memory.