Despite weather cancellations, the Quakers excel on the track

On Saturday, Penn men's and women's track chipped away at some school records at Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational.

Even though their Friday meet at Temple was canceled due to weather, the Quakers took home a total of seven wins this weekend.

The women’s team triumphed in five of their events, with an especially strong showing in the field competition. Sophomore Camille Dickson captured the long jump win for Penn with a mark of 5.73 meters, and junior Maura Kimmel’s 14.96m throw secured her victory in the shot put.

Junior Maddie Villalba was the Quakers' only first-place athlete in the track events with her performance in the 800-meters, ensuring that the women’s team picked up wins in both track and field.

Besides their podium successes, the women’s team had several important personal triumphs. Junior Katie Schroeder tied her personal best of 3.80m in her pole vault win, and senior Rachel Lee Wilson’s 63.89m hammer throw smashed her own program record.

“For this meet, I was really focused on some key technical things I’ve been working on in training. I went into the meet with the mindset of throwing far,” Wilson said.

Women’s track continued its hunt of all-time spots in the 100. Senior Imani Solan’s 11.88 second finish moved her into the fourth all-time spot in program history. Fellow sprinter junior Cecil Ene followed closely behind with an 11.95s run that matched Penn's fifth-best ever time.

The women’s team remained strong in other key events, securing the second and third place spots in the 100m hurdles and finishing in the top three in the 400, 200, javelin throw, and discus.

The men had a more difficult time racking up victories at Princeton, winning two events overall.

Junior Anthony Okolo won the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.35, and two Quakers, junior Nathan Fisher and freshman Payton Morris, took first and second place in the pole vault.

However, this win total is not indicative of many athletes’ performances. Overall, 16 Quakers made it into the top five in their events.

Although he placed fifth, sophomore Jake Kubiatowicz recorded a 59.83m toss in the hammer throw, the fourth-best mark in program history. Junior Mitchell Poynter finished second in the 1500, and senior Lance Yassay placed third in the high jump.

In the 1500 event, freshman Ray Sellaro and junior Colin Daly had significant personal accomplishments. Daly placed third, with the seventh-best time in program history of 3:34.93. After finishing with the seventh-best time in program history last week in North Carolina, Sellaro ended his run another step closer to the record with the sixth-best time ever.

“I think having the confidence was the most important part. It feels really good to be running this fast so early. To be honest, I didn’t really expect to be doing this at this point,” Sellaro said. “I’m just going to try to stay confident and follow the training plan. Hopefully that will lead to some good runs.”

Even after their record-breaking accomplishments, the Quakers have bigger aspirations.

“I’m planning to throw a lot farther," Wilson said. "My overarching goals are breaking the Ivy League record and qualifying for NCAA Nationals again. Training has been going well, and I feel that I have a lot more distance left in me before the season ends."

The Red and Blue will continue their outdoor meets next weekend at the Tennessee Relays.