There’s succeeding, and then there’s success. When the Villanova Women’s Distance Medley Relay team collected its first Penn Relays title in 1984, not even the school itself could have predicted the decades of success that were to follow. The Distance Medley Relay, or DMR, is a race that is comprised of four legs, each of varying length.

Sometimes things just don't turn out as you expect them to. As the Penn softball team gears up for the final contests of the regular season this weekend against Columbia (13-30, 5-11 Ivy), that seems to be the overarching theme.

For nine members of Penn women’s lacrosse, Saturday will be a day of lasts. The last time they head on an Academy bus for the six-hour trek up to Cornell.

Don't let the name fool you, some members of Penn softball have become known for how hard they ball.

Slip slip, slide away. After lightning delayed the start of Tuesday's game by almost an hour, Penn men's came back from a three-goal, fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score 8-8, before falling in overtime to Philly neighbor Saint Joseph's, 9-8, in the team's regular season finale. “I think our biggest issue on the day was facing off,” coach Mike Murphy said.

Let’s take a second. Or three. This past weekend, all three Penn rowing teams finished in second place.

Numbers carry a great deal of significance in the world of sports. 23, 99 and 42 may be a simple arrangement of digits to some.

After being upset in their second Ivy League contest against Dartmouth, the Quakers have won their last four against Ancient Eight opponents, including a 9-8 victory Saturday over Yale.

Penn softball came alive this week. With their first-ever four-game sweep of Cornell, the Quakers extended their winning streak to six games after dropping three of four to Princeton last weekend. “Taking four from a team in one weekend is really difficult to do,” Penn coach Leslie King said.

When it rains, it pours. In the final action of the season for both of Penn’s golf teams, a bottom half finish was unavoidable for both squads. Faced with the task of defending their 2015 Ivy crown, the men’s team found themselves in a similar situation to last year’s tournament.

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

If people were initially bearish on Penn women’s lacrosse’s potential to reclaim their Ivy League championship, they may need to start rethinking things.

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.

After clinching a berth in the Ivy tournament, you might think that Penn's men’s lacrosse team has done its job.