Rachel Lee Wilson smashes another record en route to DP Sports Player of the Week

The temperature may be getting colder, but Rachel Lee Wilson’s throwing performances are only heating up.

Penn track and field opened its indoor season by traveling to New York for the TCNJ Indoor Opener this Saturday, and Wilson’s big moment came when she shattered the team weight throw record with a distance of 20.04 meters. The mark was good for first place at the event by far, with Penn freshman Hawa Mahama claiming second place with her throw of 17.21m.

The senior has held the weight throw program record since her freshman year with the Red and Blue and has extended it every year since then. Her personal best at the end of her junior year was 19.22m, and she did not wait long to become the first Penn thrower to crack the 20m mark, smashing her old distance by over two feet.

With Wilson’s throw this weekend, the gap between her record and Penn’s second-best weight throw, Isis Trotman’s mark of 17.21m in 2016, became even wider. Although Wilson has never made the indoor NCAA Championships before, a performance like this weekend’s could be enough to get her there.

The Homewood, Ill. native has also performed well in the spring season, where she holds the school record in the hammer throw with a mark of 61.89m, set during last May’s ECAC Championships.

In addition to her two program records, one each from the indoor and outdoor seasons, Wilson also has Penn’s fifth-best discus throw at 45.80m.

With Wilson’s record-setting performance on Saturday, she has cemented herself as this week’s DP Sports Player of the Week. If she keeps up her fiery efforts, it won’t be long before she breaks the record once again.