Tom Awad logs Ivy-record mile time for Penn men's track

Records are made to be broken, and for Penn men’s track, yet another record fell on Saturday.

At the Millrose Games, senior distance runner Tom Awad continued his torrid pace — literally — by setting a new Ivy League record in the indoor mile.

In just 3:57.03, Awad not only broke the Penn program record — which he already held — but eclipsed the 3:58.04 mark set by Dartmouth’s Will Geoghegan in 2014.

“I had a two-part goal,” Awad said. “The first was to run under 4 minutes. If I had run 3:59 or 3:58, I would have been pretty happy with it. The second goal was to try to win the race and run under 3:58. Running something like 3:57 or 3:56 was like my dream going in.”

The East Norwich, N.Y., native’s time was good for the second-best in the nation so far this year, and positions the senior to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in his career. Qualifying for indoor nationals, which will be held in Birmingham, Ala., requires a top-16 national time. With his time from Saturday, Awad stands in good position to travel down south come March 11-12.

“I’m pretty much a lock,” Awad said. “We’re preparing like I’m going to make it, and I’d be very surprised if 14 people in the country decided to go 3:56 this weekend. But you never know, right?”

For now, the Quakers are preparing for their final scheduled meet of the indoor season, as they head to Ithaca, N.Y., next weekend for the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, which could open the door to more regional and national NCAA qualifiers for Penn track and field.

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