The best of graduating seniors: Spring Edition

While it didn’t end as abruptly as last year's season, this year’s athletics season was marred by cancelations and a lack of play. For many of Penn’s graduating seniors, this meant that they had no traditional senior night.

In honor of these soon-to-be graduates, here’s a look at some of the seniors from spring sports that impacted their respective programs the most.

Lacrosse

Hailing from a lacrosse family, Zoe Belodeau became a superstar player for Penn women’s lacrosse.

In her freshman season, Belodeau set the Penn rookie records for points in a season (80), goals in a season (45), and assists in a season (35), earning her a first team All-Ivy nod.

She followed that up with another first team All-Ivy selection her sophomore year, and it seemed as if she’d follow suit once again before her junior year got canceled.

Prior to the cancellation of his senior season, Adam Goldner was looking to graduate in 2020. Instead, he stayed another year, and he will graduate in 2021 as one of Penn men’s lacrosse’s most legendary players.

In his junior year, Goldner broke the Penn record for single-season goals (56) and came third all-time in single-season points (63). For his performance, he was awarded second team All-Ivy and was selected to the Ivy League Tournament All-Tournament Team.

Golf

Mitchell Cornell improved his stroke average each year he was at Penn and made a name for himself as an elite talent in the process.

In his freshman year, Cornell started off hot, finishing tied for 10th at the Ivy League Championship, which helped him earn a second team All-Ivy nod.

His sophomore year only produced more upward momentum, as he was deemed first team All-Ivy and ended up finishing tied for third at the Ivy League Championship.

Like Cornell, Rina Jung started off strong and only continued to get better each successive season.

During her first season, Jung shot a team-low 77.2 stroke average, which she then followed up in her sophomore season by shooting an even lower average and earning fifth at the Ivy League Championship.

For her success, she was named a first team All-Ivy selection her sophomore year.

Tennis

After coming out of high school ranked No. 1 in the USA by United States Tennis Association in two different divisions, Noah Makarome only continued to excel for Penn.

In his freshman year, he led all freshmen on the team with 16 wins in the spring, which helped the team earn 15 victories, their most since 2006.

He followed that up with a sophomore season in which he was one of six Quakers to post double-digit wins in singles in the spring, which aided Penn in garnering a No. 23 ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Hailing from Croatia, Marija Curnic proved that she could hang with the best of them during her time with Penn.

She earned winning records in both singles and doubles play her freshman year, ending the year on a six-match singles winning streak after beating six different Ivy League opponents.

In her sophomore season, she finished the year 23-9 in doubles, which helped her be named a first team All-Ivy doubles player.

Curnic continued to thrive into her junior year, as she finished 20-6 playing No.1 doubles with Iuliia Bryzgalova.

Rowing

During her time with Penn women’s rowing, Maggie Osumi was a vital part of the team’s success.

In her sophomore season, she was the five seat for Penn's Varsity Eight in the Murphy Cup, and helped lead the team to multiple victories. That same year, she was named as a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-America Honorable Mention. 

Ed Barry helped Penn men’s lightweight rowing to a number of victories during his time with the program, earning some individual accolades in the process.

His sophomore year seemed to be his best, as he was named first team All-Ivy and was a part of a team that was named Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Lightweight Crew of the Year. He followed that up in his junior year by being deemed Academic All-Ivy as well as helping the team to first place in Lightweight Eights at Princeton Chase.

After being a part of numerous successful Varsity Eight squads for Penn men’s heavyweight rowing, David Theiss was named team commodore his junior year.

Before then in his sophomore season, he helped lead the team to a victory against Columbia and was previously named Intercollegiate Rowing Association All-Academic. 

Squash

Julia Buchholz started out her Penn career undefeated and continued her success both academically and athletically.

In her freshman year, she won her first seven matches, which included wins over No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 Yale.

Similarly, she began her sophomore season with a five-match winning streak. Between those wins and her later wins, Buchholz helped the Quakers to an appearance in the Howe Cup.

Her junior year was also a fruitful one, as she competed in all 16 varsity matches, going 13-6 overall across individual and team play. During that same season, she earned Academic All-Ivy and was named a College Squash Association Scholar-Athlete, Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area, and the Jacobs Award Winner.

During his time with Penn men’s squash, Andrew Douglas established himself as arguably one of the best players in the Ivy League.

In his first year, he played the entire season at the team’s No. 1 slot, going 14-4 during team events. In the process, he became just the second freshman in Penn men’s squash history to be named first team All-American and first team All-Ivy.

In his sophomore year, the program soared to heights that the team had never reached before. Douglas was a major part in an effort that brought Penn to its first ever No. 1 in the CSA rankings as well as a third-place finish at the Potter Cup — what was then its best finish in program history. He finished off the season ranked No. 3 in the CSA individual rankings and was awarded first team All-American as well as first team All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy.

After a summer in which he helped the United States win the XVIII Pan American Games three-man team title in Lima, Peru, Douglas was named team co-captain for his junior year. The following season was even more successful, as Douglas earned honors on the first team All-America and first team All-Ivy squads. He was also named Philadelphia Inquirer Academic Men’s At-Large Co-Performer of the Year.

Track and Field/Cross Country

Marvin Morgan has seen his name go down in the Penn record books in several different categories.

In his sophomore season, Morgan helped Penn capture its first 60-meter title at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships since 2000, finishing with a time of 6.78. He won a number of other races, and in doing so, was named first team All-Ivy twice, with one nod coming for his indoor 60m performance and one coming for his outdoor 100m performance.

Morgan also holds the program record for the indoor 60m with a time of 6.75, as well as third all-time finish in the indoor 200m (21.46) and fifth all-time finish in the outdoor 100m (10.42).

Throughout her time with the Red and Blue, Uchechi Nwogwugwu made a name for herself by winning races and setting records left and right.

In 2019, she was a part of teams that won the Penn Relays Championship of America as well as the Ivy League Outdoor Heps Team Championship. During the same year, she also earned three separate first team All-Ivy nods. In total, Nwogwugwu garnered nine total All-Ivy nods during her time as a Quaker.

In both the indoor (53.21) and outdoor (52.27) 400m, the Lansdale, Pa. native holds the record for Penn. Additionally, she holds the second all-time mark in three other events, as well as third, fifth, and ninth all-time marks in others.

Softball

Outfielder Kayla Ketring began her time as a Quaker in a leading role and only progressed to assume more of that type of a role as her career moved forward.

In her 14 appearances as a freshman, Ketring led the team with a .417 batting average as well as a perfect 1.000 field percentage.

As a sophomore, she was named first team All-Ivy after ranking second in the Ivy League in overall batting average (.413) and leading her team in the category. Her batting average that year also ranks as the fifth-highest in a single season in program history.

After being named team co-captain her junior year, Ketring was tied for second among Ivy League players in runs scored (10), keeping up a high-level batting average (.351) in the process.

Baseball

Similar to his softball counterpart, second baseman and outfielder Eduardo Malinowski started his Penn career off with a bang and only built upon his momentum from there.

In his freshman season, Malinowski was named a 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, as well as Ivy League and Big 5 Rookie of the Year. This surprised few, given that he batted a team-best .347 at the plate.

Despite missing about a quarter of the season due to injury, the Spring, Texas native was awarded an All-Ivy Honorable Mention his sophomore year, due in part to his again stellar batting average (.354). His season was marked by an individual performance against Lafayette, in which he went 5-for-6 with four runs scored.

Although his junior year was cut short, Malinowski managed to lead the Ivy League and rank sixth in the nation with a .471 batting average over the course of eight games.