Women's track captures second straight Indoor Ivy Heps title, while men finish second

Penn women’s track does it again.

After ending a 22-year wait between Indoor Ivy Heptagonal Championships a year ago, the Quakers wasted no time getting back on top. This weekend in Cambridge, Mass., the women repeated as champions with 136 points while the men finished second behind Princeton. 

The titles and glory were abundant on both the men’s and women’s sides with many crowned champions of their respective events. 

On Saturday, the field events were a telling sign that this meet was going to be special for the Quakers.

Senior Rachel Lee Wilson did not disappoint with her weight throw, as her 20.53m toss both defended her championship title for the second year in a row and moved her into second place in Ivy League history. Freshman Mayyi Mahama threw for 19.59m and finished second behind Wilson.

Likewise, freshman Abby Norwillo claimed fourth place in the pole vault, and her 3.91m vault is second best in women’s program history. 

By the end of a successful Saturday, the women sat tied for second with Cornell at 28 points, just 10 points behind Dartmouth, who was in first.

The men, however, were a little behind, standing in fourth place with 22 points, just a point behind Princeton. This was despite two podium finishes in the pole vault, as junior Nathan Fisher claimed the Ivy title by clearing 5.25m with freshman Payton Morris finishing in third with a mark of 5.15m. 

The Quakers knew that Heps were far from over and got stellar performances on Sunday from the sprinters and middle distance runners to keep them in contention.

Out of the gates on Sunday, sophomore Marvin Morgan won the 60m with a lightening speed of 6.78s.

Likewise, senior Calvary Rogers refused to give up his 200 title, clocking in at 21.45 with Morgan just behind him snagging fourth place with a time of 21.86. Rogers is now a five-time Ivy League champion and the first athlete in the history of the League to win three indoor 200 titles in a row. 

On the women's side, junior Nia Akins won the 1000m with a time of 2:43.92, smashing the previously held Penn record, Ivy record, meet record, and 2018 Championship time.

“Just knowing how deep our team is and how great we are across the board, I feel like it's expected to go out and to perform,” Akins said. “Honestly [it was] really easy to feed off the energy of the environment and off of all of the previous people that were running really well."

Akins was later named the Most Outstanding Indoor Track Performer after her win and stellar performance in anchoring the 4x880 yard relay team to victory. She is the first ever Penn woman to win the award.

Junior Maura Kimmel won the shot put with a massive 16.07m throw, while freshman Cameron Landis broke his personal record and placed second in the men’s shot put with a throw of 17.54m. 

Senior Anna Peyton Malizia joined in on the winning by placing first in the high jump for the second year in a row with a height of 1.74m.

Success on the women’s team continued with junior Cecil Ene, who got first in the 200m dash with a time of 24.12, and junior Elena Brown-Soler, who placed fifth with a time of 24.90. 

Sophomore Melissa Tanaka became the champion title-holder in the 800 with a lightning time of 2:07.87, attributing to the Red and Blue’s success.

On the men’s side, junior Colin Daly got second with a 4:06.82 mile run, while junior Anthony Okolo and sophomore Ryan Bender placed second and third in the 400 at 48.54 and got 48.55, respectively. 

Looking ahead, Penn will now prepare for NCAA Championships before transitioning to outdoor competition in March.