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.

Maybe all they needed was just a little time away from the Ancient Eight. In a brief interlude from Ivy League competition, Penn took both games of a doubleheader against Saint Joesph's yesterday, defeating the Hawks by scores of 7-0 and 4-1. The two games signified a returned to early season form for the Quakers (17-19), who have struggled recently in Ivy play.

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.

Penn golf will hit the road this weekend and compete for the Ivy League championship, with the men's team looking to defend its title in Greenwich, Connecticut and the women looking to win their first league title since 2010 in Jackson, New Jersey. The women's team comes in with momentum, having finished top-five in each of its first three tournaments this spring following a strong fall season.

As the spring season starts to wind down, there are a number of Penn teams in the hunt for an Ivy title and beyond.

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.

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.

Coming in hot having won three straight conference matches and with the Ivy League title on the line, it made for a competitive weekend for Penn women's tennis. After jumping up 22 spots in the ITA Rankings from 74 to 52 after defeating Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, the Quakers split their final Ivy doubleheader, falling to No. 63 Cornell on Friday, 5-2, at home before rebounding the season finale in New York against No. 34 Columbia, 4-3. On Friday against Cornell, the Big Red took an early lead, claiming the first four points.

There’s going to be a battle for the top spot in the Ivy League on Wednesday, and Penn women’s lacrosse has been tested and is ready to go as it looks to reclaim the title it has held eight of the last nine years.

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as the old saying goes, but Penn softball are surely wishing it counted in their sport after this weekend. 

Penn women's rowing tested its limits this weekend, and they did not come away empty handed. While in action at the Clemson Invitational in South Carolina, the Quakers secured the Class of '89 Plaque for only the third time in program history.

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.

After a weekend road trip that saw Penn softball incur four straight losses, two of which went to extra innings, the Quakers were itching to head back to Philadelphia.

In head coach Sanela Kunovac’s first season in 2009, Penn went winless in the Ivies for the first time ever.

Penn softball may be down, but they are certainly not out. Last weekend, the Quakers (13-16, 2-6 Ivy) played through a string of disappointing road losses to Dartmouth and Harvard.

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.

We're heading down the home stretch of the spring season as most of Penn's teams are halfway through their Ivy League campaigns.