Penn track and field sets three program records over split-squad weekend

It’s usually not a good thing when a team splits in two, but this weekend, track and field traveled to two separate meets and returned three program records. 

A handful of distance runners traveled to the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton. Senior Michael Keehan and junior Liv Morganti both set records for the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the men’s and women's programs, respectively. Keehan’s time of 8:36.79 broke a record that had stood since 2000 and Morganti’s 10:09.13 shattered the previous time by over ten seconds.

It wasn’t just the runners that shined this weekend, though. At the Transatlantic Series, which pitted Cornell and Penn against Oxford and Cambridge, sophomore Nataliia llieva set the program's third new record of the weekend. Ilieva’s pole vault of 4.22m broke her previous record of 4.08m set just one week ago. 

llieva was one of multiple Quakers to find success at the Transatlantic. Fellow jumper senior Tamara Grahovac won the triple jump. Penn also won two relays in the women's 4x100m and men's 4x400m. Freshman Moforehan Abinusawa who was a part of the women's 4x100m team, also earned first in the women’s 200m, while her relay teammate freshman Christiana Nwachuku won the women’s 400m. 

At the Ellis Invitational, outside of Keehan and Morganti, Penn failed to earn first place in any events, although sophomore Dylan Throop and sophomore Bronwyn Patterson earned second in their respective races. Throop’s 5,000m time of 13:49.06 and Patterson’s 2:05.30 800m were both good enough for second best in program history.

The three program records along with Throop and Patterson were a part of 15 different marks that landed in the top-10 in program history.

Penn once again will split up next weekend with some of the team going to the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville and others to the Widener Invitational in Chester.