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.

On Friday and Saturday, Penn track and field competed at Princeton in the Larry Ellis Invitational.

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.

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.

If you asked most Penn students if they really enjoyed their toughest Pottruck workouts, the answer would probably be no. Hard runs or the dreaded leg days are often the things that — despite being sometimes necessary — they dread the most. Calvary Rogers, freshman track phenom, on the other hand, relishes the opportunity to have his coaches push him every day in practice.

On Saturday, amid perfect conditions, Penn’s two track programs combined for 11 event victories and several personal best times at the Chester Quarry Classic, hosted by Widener University.

Once again, Penn track and field was split between two meets this weekend.

After a crazy weekend, the track team is reunited. And this time, they mean business. Last weekend, three groups traveled far and wide in search of elite-level performances that would earn them qualification for the NCAA preliminaries.

Penn track and field was spread thin over three states for three prestigious meets this weekend as the Quakers begin the crescendo towards the Penn Relays and NCAA championships.

It’s a common saying in the world of track and field: “One moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” The track and field athletes competing this weekend may not be able to achieve a lifetime of glory just yet, but they can get close — qualification for the NCAA preliminaries.

If all goes as planned for senior men’s track and field stars Thomas Awad and Sam Mattis, this June’s NCAA National Championships won’t mark the end of their respective 2016 seasons.

Historically in athletics, men and women of respective professional sports do not train with or compete against each other.

Five track and field freshmen to watch out for in 2016

For the second consecutive weekend, Penn track and field will host a meet at Franklin Field, with Saturday’s Penn Challenge against Army, Manhattan, Rider, Villanova and Connecticut just days away. While there will be some similarities between the Penn Challenge and last weekend’s Philadelphia College Classic, sophomore Jeff Wiseman says there is a key difference in the level of competition. “The competition is a lot stronger,” he said.

It’s springtime in Philadelphia and Penn track and field is gearing up for outdoor season. Three weeks removed from Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships, this Saturday’s Philadelphia College Classic will be the first official competition for many members of the team in a while.

After breaking the Penn and Ivy League records for the mile back in February senior distance runner Thomas Awad finished in third place at the NCAA indoor track and field championships on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham Alabama. With a time of 4:06.97, Awad became just the fifth Penn athlete to earn All-American status during the indoor season. While he finished nearly ten seconds slower than his record setting 3:57.03 time from the Millrose games, Awad, in just his first trip to the NCAA indoor championships, was able to lock down a spot in the podium. Out of the gates Awad was not in the front of the pack.

Penn track and field traveled to Cornell over the weekend to compete in the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, with the men’s and women’s teams placing fourth and seventh, respectively.