Ivy League title? Nah. Regional championship? Think bigger.
Then-junior Sam Mattis’ winning performance in the discus provided the highlight of Penn Track and Field’s performance at mid-June’s NCAA Championships in Oregon. Mattis’ throw of 205 feet, 0 inches — a Penn school record — came in dramatic fashion on his sixth and final try. With the win, Mattis became only the second Ivy thrower — and the first since 1949 — to take home a national title in the event.
“For me, it’s a great accomplishment,” Mattis said in June. “It still hasn’t totally sunk in yet. I’ve imagined myself being here since I got to college ... but hopefully it will sink in soon.”
Mattis came into his sixth and final throw sitting on a score of 203-0, a mere two inches off the pace of Tennessee’s Tavis Bailey. Though Mattis needed only those two inches to secure the title, he added a full two feet.
“He went in for that last throw, and he just wound it up,” Tony Tenisci, Mattis’ throwing coach, said. “Everyone knew that that was it, even before it landed. ... It was just, wow. It was like the happiest moment of my life.”
Though Mattis undoubtedly grabbed the weekend’s headlines, his fellow Quakers produced several other impressive performances. Then-sophomore Noah Kennedy-White’s throw of 176-8 was good for 23rd place in the discus, while rising sophomore high jumper Mike Monroe joined Kennedy-White in winning Honorable Mention All-American.
On the women’s side, Kelsey Hay, now a senior, finished 13th in the javelin, which paved the way for second team All-American nod. With the performance — coupled with her 18th-place finish in the event last season — Hay became the first woman in program track and field history to earn two career All-American nods.
More disappointing was the performance of then-junior standout distance runner Thomas Awad. After winning the 5,000-meter Ivy Heptagonal championship last spring, Awad was not able to finish in the event in Eugene.
Luckily Awad, just like each of the other aforementioned athletes, will be returning to Penn this season. And to hear Mattis say it, Red and Blue fans can prepare for more of the same.
“This isn’t going to change anything,” Mattis said. “Everybody comes to practice with energy and focus each day. We’re a really close group. We’ll just try to keep this momentum going forward.”
Undoubtedly, numerous Quakers have bright futures ahead.
And one of their own has already made it to the mountaintop.
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