As a freshman living in Hill, I remember waking up at about 8 a.m. one Friday morning in April to a sound that I cannot really describe. It was noise, and a lot of it. I looked out my window onto Walnut Street, and it was like I was in another country (probably Jamaica), with food carts, souvenir stands, people dressed up in all sorts of outfits and track uniforms and a general atmosphere that was a bit alien to Penn.
A lot is made of the NFL Draft - TV coverage started the day after the Super Bowl, and Mel Kiper has had his four-round mock drafts up for some time. But for hundreds of players like undrafted free agent and former Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz, the year after the draft determines their future.
The stereotypical Ivy League athlete is smart, calculated and plays with his head - a student on the football field, but is also weak, slow and undersized. If that's true, former Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie should have played in the Big Ten. "He's one of those rare players you get in the Ivy League that can dominate" in the NFL, Brown coach Phil Estes said.
The ice water felt good. Coaches Mike Dowd and Sara Schiffman and senior co-captain Ashley Lostritto got the celebratory bath on Saturday as the women's tennis team beat Columbia 7-0 to cap a perfect Ivy League season. As the music blared and his players celebrated, a wet coach Dowd described the mood: "It's a tremendous feeling," he said.
Having clinched the Ivy title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last Wednesday against Princeton, the women lacrosse team's 12-4 win over Brown on Sunday may have seemed like icing on the cake. But the No. 3 Quakers (13-1, 7-0 Ivy) knew they still had a lot to play for.
Not again. For the second straight year, the Penn men's tennis team went into its final weekend needing two victories to secure an outright Ivy League title. And for the second straight year, the Quakers came up short. After defeating Cornell 6-1 at home Friday to put the team one win away from grabbing its first outright title in 36 years, Penn lost at Columbia 4-2, meaning the Quakers will have to share the crown for the second straight year, this time with the Lions.
Not again. For the second straight year, the Penn men's tennis team went into its final weekend needing two victories to secure an outright Ivy League title. And for the second straight year, the Quakers came up short. After defeating Cornell 6-1 at home Friday to put the team one win away from grabbing its first outright title in 36 years, Penn lost at Columbia 4-2, meaning the Quakers will have to share the crown for the second straight year, this time with the Lions.
A lot is made of the NFL Draft - TV coverage started the day after the Super Bowl, and Mel Kiper has had his four-round mock drafts up for some time. But for hundreds of players like undrafted free agent and former Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz, the year after the draft determines their future.
The stereotypical Ivy League athlete is smart, calculated and plays with his head - a student on the football field, but is also weak, slow and undersized. If that's true, former Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie should have played in the Big Ten. "He's one of those rare players you get in the Ivy League that can dominate" in the NFL, Brown coach Phil Estes said.
Princeton athletic director Gary Walters addressed an easy question at Monday's press conference, but didn't tackle a much harder one. The simple question - who will be the Tigers' next men's basketball coach? - had already been answered last Thursday, when Princeton put out an early announcement.
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Chance Pipitone had just shot a 73 to open his weekend at the Ivy League championships, and he was already in a two-stroke hole for day two. The Penn freshman was assessed a two-stroke penalty - it was appealed but not overturned - for showing up late to his tee time.
Sam Burley called the Franklin Field track home for four years, but he might find it a tad strange when he hits the red track during the Penn Relays this weekend. Instead of donning Red and Blue in the college events earlier in the weekend, the 2003 graduate and former Penn Track star will be running in the Distance Medley Relay this Saturday.
It's all out of their hands now. After finishing over .500 at 23-17 for the first time in 23 years, the Quakers have done their work this season. And now the Penn softball team will have to wait for the results of the Cornell and Princeton clashes over the weekend to find out if it will get another game this season.
The experience of college athletes at the Penn Relays may best be summed up by Arkansas runner Adam Perkins: "Just give me the baton." As usual, an all-star cast of collegiate teams will descend upon Franklin Field this weekend. With 240 colleges and universities, from Abilene Christian to York, bringing teams and individuals to participate in the relays, there are thousands of storylines to follow.
Running is the individual. It is how fast you can go, how hard you can push your body, how badly you want that time, and how much you want to beat yourself. It is about you and your personal performance. Or so the thinking goes. The women of the Quakers' 4x800-meter relay, however, beg to differ.
This season, it seems as though the men's heavyweight crew team can't help but settle for a second-place finish. The Quakers took second yet again this weekend in the Blackwell Cup against Yale and Columbia after the same result against Columbia and Princeton the previous time out.
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Penn can now party like it's 1997. With a 13-1 thrashing of Cornell yesterday, the Quakers clinched at least a share of their first Gehrig Division crown in a decade. "It's huge - it shows that Penn baseball is making a turn for the better," said captain Doug Brown, who pitched the final four innings to get the win.
All that Penn sophomore J.J. Lian could say about Saturday's game was "that third quarter really killed us." It didn't matter that for a little over 49 minutes on the field, No. 8 Maryland was forced to play an unexpected game of catch-up against the Quakers.
It's been over 45 years since the last time an Ivy League college won the prized Distance Medley event at the Penn Relays. This weekend at the Relays, Penn will be relying on a strong finish from one of its top athletes to try to steal a win.
The men's golf team had won the Ivy League championship once in its 32 year program history. But make that twice now. The Quakers took home their second Ivy trophy Sunday afternoon, beating second place Brown by ten shots at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey.
Their final game isn't for two weeks, but for the Quakers, tomorrow's matchup might as well be the last one. No. 8 Maryland visits Franklin Field tomorrow in a game that may be the Penn men's lacrosse team's last hope for a playoff bid. While the regular-season finale is on May 5 against Denver, a win against the ACC powerhouse could put Penn (6-5, 3-3 Ivy) squarely on the bubble.
Solutions by The State News
