In final meet before Ivy Heps, Penn track resets records at Princeton Invitational

Coming off of a series of record-breaking meets in recent weekends, Penn track came ready to continue its streak. 

This weekend, the men's and women’s teams traveled to New Jersey for the Princeton Invitational. This meet was the last one to prepare the team for the yearly Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships, and the Quakers proved their readiness. 

Although a large group of athletes took the weekend off before Heps next weekend, many took part in the meet to get their last events in and see where they stand among their Ancient Eight competition. 

The invitational was filled with teams from all over the country, but the usual suspects for the Quakers continued their recent run of record breaking. 

The day started off with the field events and the Red and Blue continued their overwhelming success in the women’s shot put. Junior Maura Kimmel and sophomore Ashley Anumba toppled the competition with tremendous throws of 15.77m and 13.65m, respectively. 

While Kimmel and Anumba led the way, their younger teammates, freshmen Nia Caldwell and Mayyi Mahama, also placed in the top 10 with 12.56m and 11.13m throws. 

As the meet progressed, the men’s track team pitched in a few top finishes, with senior William Duchow sprinting to the finish of the 400-meter race in 51.30 seconds, good for a fifth-place finish.

Additionally, freshman Payton Morris clinched second place in the pole vault after he cleared a height of 5.05m. 

However, it was the women’s weight throw that caught attention from everyone. 

Standout performances from senior Rachel Lee Wilson and Mahama stole the show for the Quakers with their impressive and personal-best throws.

Wilson reset the program record and improved on her throw from last weekend by a marginal 0.08m, putting her individual record at a whopping 20.30m and helping her claim the top spot this weekend.

Mahama proved to not be too far behind Wilson, smashing her PR from last weekend and throwing an impressive 19.86m, only behind Wilson in the Penn record books.

On the men’s side of field events, freshman Cameron Landis demolished the shot put competition again. Landis improved his mark from last week, landing at 16.71m on Saturday to put him in at third place in the event.

“I love to compete,” Landis said. “I especially like the marriage of physical power, emotional tone, and technical mastery that comes with throwing.”

The team proved from this weekend’s success that they are ready and rested to travel to Cambridge, Mass. for Ivy Heps come next Saturday. 

“[I’m] excited for sure,” Landis said. “Throwing is pretty technical and requires as much patience as it does ferocity. I trust coach Pflaumbaum, and I think by the end of the week I'll be tuned up to give my all for the competition.”

From the standouts this weekend, Penn is sure to showcase the yearlong work and effort that they have surmised thus far.