A four-year rower in the Varsity 8, a two-time CRCA National Scholar Athlete, a two-time first-team CRCA All-Region and a Rhodes Scholar all sit in the same boat.

The expansion and widespread success of club sports across the country has had a tremendous effect on college students over the last decade.

Mother nature has not shone brightly on Penn track and field this season. The Quakers have been forced to embrace the elements at the vast majority of their meets. This weekend should be no different.

The first time that Penn softball coach Leslie King stepped onto a softball diamond, she broke her nose. A freshman in high school at the time, King fell victim to an untimely groundball that flew up into her face rather then nestling into her mitt. “I had never played before,” she explained.

Penn Athletics has a variety of varsity sports teams, but it also hosts a wealth of club sports. These club teams can even be surprisingly successful — the men’s club basketball team, for instance, had a record-breaking year. But for the best club athletes, just how easy is it — and how often does it occur — to move up to the varsity level? The latter question is easier to answer.

While they may have been non-entities last year, sophomore right-handed pitcher Billy Lescher and junior southpaw Gabe Kleiman have become indispensable members of Penn baseball’s pitching staff this season.

All of Penn’s student body knows that “finals season” is approaching. But for a select subset of the school, the phrase is a bit of a double entendre.

Last Monday, Princeton announced that it was discontinuing its long-beleaguered sprint football team, effective immediately.

Second-year high jumper Mike Monroe is enjoying a sophomore surge in anticipation of the big name meets coming up. 

When they first set foot in University City, many freshmen athletes learn to keep their heads down and work hard in the hopes of receiving just a smidge of playing time by the time they are an upperclassmen.

It takes a lot to be a Penn athlete. It takes even more to be a successful Penn athlete. And it’s damn near impossible to excel in the world of professional sports.

On the heels of one of the best all-around seasons in Penn squash history, the Quakers are doing everything they can to maintain their success from 2015-16.

To completely change the culture of any group, the first step is to start from within. And for a Penn Athletics brand looking to re-ignite its formerly passionate fan base, the road to recovery is underway.

You are what you eat. And for Penn’s varsity athletes, nothing could be more important than what they put in their bodies.

To make it to the top of any industry, you have to be willing to think outside the box. Fortunately for Penn Athletics, Jim Steel has taken the message. Behind the efforts of the 12th-year Strength and Conditioning Manager, Penn varsity teams have strayed from the status quo in the weight room, adopting an unconventional method to raise themselves to the next level: Muay Thai kickboxing. “I’ve just found that it’s so good for hand-eye coordination, for conditioning it’s unbelievable, and it improves people’s athleticism,” Steel said.

Not many Penn athletes can say they spent time in the pros before putting on the red and blue for the Quakers.

For Penn softball, not much has changed in the last two seasons. They have had a strong offense, made several runs at the Ivy Title and had an ace starter named Alexis. But this year, the difference is in the last name. Just a year after graduating perhaps the most illustrious pitcher in program history in Alexis Borden, the Quakers have found a new star in the circle in junior Alexis Sargent. After waiting in the ranks for two years behind Borden, Sargent emerged as Penn's next top starter early in the season, wasting little time in establishing herself as a bona fide ace.