Best of graduating seniors: Spring sports

Baseball — Owen Coady

In his final year in the Red and Blue, senior left-handed pitcher Owen Coady has been nothing short of phenomenal. His 2.81 ERA and 69 strikeouts are both second in the Ivy League, and his 57.2 innings pitched across 10 starts are the most of any Quaker this season. Penn’s pitching has been by far the best in the Ivy League throughout 2023, and Coady’s successful, reliable outings have been a key part of that. 

The southpaw had the best outing of the season on April 2 against Dartmouth, putting in 5.2 innings of work and notching 11 strikeouts while allowing no runs and just one hit in a Quaker win. And Coady, originally from Larchmont, N.Y., will be able to continue throwing heat next season when he is a graduate transfer at the University of Virginia.

Men’s Golf — Mark Haghani

After deciding to remain with the Quakers for his final year of college eligibility, Mark Haghani had a senior campaign to remember. Originally from London, Haghani first picked up the clubs at the urging of a family member and excelled in junior golf in Montana. But his real improvement has come since he first donned the Red and Blue. And this year, all his hard work paid off. 

Haghani was the low Penn player for all five tournaments in the fall, and notched a fifth overall finish at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial. In the spring, he kept up the excellence, including with a third overall placement at Columbia’s Roar-EE Invitational. And, at Ivy League Championships last month, Haghani’s tenth place finish earned him second-team All-Ivy honors.

Women’s Golf — Susan Xiao

Throughout the entire 2022-23 campaign, senior Susan Xiao has been a steady, stable presence for Penn women’s golf. She appeared in eight tournaments for the Quakers this season, consistently placed in the top 20 across all competitors. One of her best outings of the year came at the Princeton Invitational back in September, when she finished with a 218 over three rounds, good enough for 10th place overall. 

Xiao consistently played her best golf towards the beginning of tournaments, setting the tone for the rest of her teammates. And nowhere was this more apparent than at Ivy League Championships, where her first-round 72 led the Quakers and put them on pace to take home the conference championship.

Men’s Lacrosse — Sam Handley

This season, injuries forced Penn men’s lacrosse to fill some gaps in a roster that won an Ivy League Championship in 2022. And Sam Handley — a 6-foot-5 fifth-year senior midfielder from Portland, Ore. — ably and eagerly stepped in. His 55 points — spread between 30 goals and 25 assists — led the Quakers by a wide margin and placed seventh in the Ivy League. 

Throughout many games this season, Handley showcased his versatility, shooting and passing with ease. He also was a go-to option for coach Mike Murphy’s squad throughout this season. One key example of this came during the Quakers’ regular season game against Princeton. Late in overtime, the play was drawn up for Handley, who made the winning goal in a 9-8 Penn victory where he scored or assisted on six Penn goals. 

Women’s Lacrosse — Niki Miles

In her final year with the Quakers, senior attacker Niki Miles has led — although that’s nothing new for her. Last season, she finished first on the team with 34 points. This year, she's doing it again, with 57 goals over 17 games, the best among Quakers by a wide margin. What’s more, she’s also putting her place in the record books. Through 17 games, Miles is one goal away from tying the single-season program record, last set by Tory Bensen in 2015. 

Beyond the individual accolades, Miles has also played a crucial role on a Quaker team which has spent the better part of two months running roughshod over the rest of the Ivy League. Penn will be headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 following its win in the Ivy League Tournament last Sunday, and the Quakers put together a perfect 7-0 record against conference foes in the regular season — a feat in which Miles played no small part. 

Men’s Rowing — Jonathan Condon

Jonathan Condon has had to endure a lot in his Penn career. Just like most of this senior class, the COVID-19 pandemic cut his freshman season short and completely wiped out a sophomore campaign. Condon has also had three separate head coaches during his time as a Quaker. Despite all of this, Condon not just persevered, but excelled. 

This season, as the team’s captain, Condon has been an integral part of Penn’s team, in a sport where there isn’t much of a gap between the top college teams and the top squads in the entire world. And ahead of the IRA National Championships early in June — which Condon says will likely be his last competitive race — the Quakers have been in strong form, including in a victory against Oregon State toward the end of April. 

Women’s Rowing — Samy Morton

Despite not racing with the Quakers prior to the 2021-22 season, Samy Morton has already made her presence felt on the Penn program. Last season, she participated in many races, and ultimately received second-team All-Ivy and second-team CRCA All-America honors as a result. And this year, her excellent performance continued. Morton — originally from Hong Kong — played a key role in several early successes for Penn this year, including at the Head of the Charles in the fall, when Morton’s boat took first place among American colleges. And her season isn’t over yet, as Penn is scheduled to compete at Ivy Championships this upcoming weekend. 

Softball — Sarah Schneider

Penn softball’s 2023 season has not been one that many will look back fondly on in the years to come. But one bright spot has been the excellent campaign of catcher Sarah Schneider. The senior from Los Angeles is currently second on the team with a .292 batting average and OPS at .846, while leading the team with 11 doubles and five home runs across 41 games started. Behind the plate, she has also been sharp, only committing two errors and achieving a .984 fielding percentage. 

But Schneider is used to this type of two-way excellence, as she earned first-team All-Ivy honors last season. This year, even though some statistical categories have taken slight dips, Schneider has still compiled a campaign to be proud of.

Men’s Tennis — Aditya Gupta

Even after an impressive 2021-22 season, Aditya Gupta has taken his game to a whole new level this season. The senior from Southern California is 14-6 in singles play, and when teamed with freshman Manfredi Graziani, the pair is 10-4 in doubles matches. What makes Gupta’s record even more impressive is how thoroughly he dominates opponents; his last nine wins have been in two sets, with many opponents not able to win more than a few games against him. 

But success like this is nothing new for Gupta, who was the 23rd ranked recruit nationally in his class, and was a state champion in high school. From his first season in Red and Blue, Gupta excelled, going 8-1 in singles and 7-3 in doubles his freshman fall. Following a limited sophomore season due to COVID-19, Gupta was 13-3 in singles matches last spring, beginning with ten straight wins. 

Women’s Tennis — Gibson Thomas

This season, senior Gibson Thomas saw most of her action for Penn women’s tennis during the fall season, when she put up a 4-4 singles record, and was 4-5 when part of a doubles pairing. Despite not seeing much action in the spring, she still provided valuable leadership to a young Quaker team in her final season in Red and Blue. 

One of the highlights of her year came during the ITA Northeast Regional in October, when she defeated Wagner’s Tara Dakic in a three-set thriller to advance to the Round of 64. 

Men’s Track & Field — Michael Keehan

Michael Keehan will be going out on top of the Ivy League. The senior from Wilmington, Del. took home the conference title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at last weekend’s Ivy Championships after running a 8:45.65. The win caps off a stellar outdoor season for Keehan, who set a program record at the Larry Ellis Invitational last month with a 8:36.79 time in the steeplechase. Keehan is also in the Penn record books in the 1,500m after running a 3:45.57 in 2021, which is eighth in Penn history. 

Keehan already has experience competing on the national stage; he qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2021 in the steeplechase. But with him set to graduate soon, it is currently unclear whether he will return to national competition for one last ride in the Red and Blue.  

Women’s Track & Field — Katherine Muccio

In her final Ivy Heps, senior sprinter Katherine Muccio not only took home first place, but also earned herself a spot in Quaker history with a time of 13.51 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles — second in program history. This comes just one week after Muccio’s Penn team finished third in the 4x100m relay at Penn Relays at 45.28. But in reality, Muccio has been hot for most of this season. Just two weeks prior to recording 13.51, she ran a 13.66 at the Virginia Challenge, which was at the time 3rd all-time among Quakers. While it remains to be seen whether she will be headed to NCAA National Championships, Muccio has certainly made a name for herself while in Red and Blue.