Many of Penn's track stars rest in ECAC Championships as women finish fourth

It’s that time of the year again.

In the last track and field action of the season before NCAA competition begins, the men’s team finished eleventh while the women finished fourth at the ECAC & IC4A Championships.

With a very busy schedule preceding the event, including the Ivy Heptagonal Championship last weekend and the Penn Relays the week before, many of the Quakers' top athletes took this weekend as an opportunity for rest.

“[The ECAC/IC4A Championships] is a great opportunity to compete, but we aren’t in a position to give it a full go as a team,” coach Steve Dolan said.

For those who did not yet qualify for NCAAs or who sat firmly on the bubble, this was the last chance to improve their numbers before the complete field is announced by the NCAA later this week. Despite the relatively small Penn representation at the event, a few athletes stood out.

“It’s a great opportunity for some individuals to see if they can maybe better their mark to try and make NCAAs or just have a strong finish to their collegiate season,” Dolan said.

On the men’s side, freshman Justin Cornetta finished fifth in the 1500-meter with a time of 3:50.12, and freshman Payton Morris tied for first in the pole vault at 5.16 meters. This tied Morris’ season-best mark, which will likely be good enough to qualify him for NCAAs.

On the women’s side, freshman Skyla Wilson put up a time of 14.01 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, earning her a second-place finish, while freshman Mayyi Mahama hit 61.74 meters in the hammer throw, also good for second. Both women will likely be competing at NCAAs, with Wilson in the 400-meter hurdle race as well as on the 4x400 relay team, and Mahama improving upon her previous season-best throw of 60.27 meters.

Additionally, junior Cecil Ene ran a 24.31 second 200-meter to place second, while senior Rachel Lee Wilson added another first-place finish to her trophy case with a 63.23-meter toss in the hammer throw. Ene will likely join Skyla Wilson on the 4x400 relay team, while Rachel Lee Wilson will be trying to finish her dominant final season on a high note at NCAAs.

These athletes are just a few from the large group of Penn athletes who will be competing next weekend at the NCAAs in Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 finishers in each individual and relay team event there will then advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. 

“We think we should have a really nice-sized group, across a wide range of events between the men and the women,” Dolan said. “We’re excited about the group we’ve got.”