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Monday, March 31



Good morning, Penn.


Welcome back to Quaker Nation, Penn’s premier sports newsletter.

In this week’s edition, we’re spotlighting Penn men’s basketball’s new head coach, Fran McCaffery — a 1982 Wharton graduate and former star point guard for the Red and Blue. 

Without further ado, let’s dive into the latest stories from The Daily Pennsylvanian Sports:

New boss in town: Wharton alumnus Fran McCaffery is returning to the Palestra as head coach to reignite the men’s basketball team.

Lia speaks out: Former Penn swimmer Lia Thomas was a featured speaker at HiTOPS, a transgender youth event, over the weekend.

McCaffery effect: AJ Levine left the transfer portal and decided to stay at Penn after the announcement of the new coach hiring, just over 24 hours after entering the portal.
 
Courtesy of  Wikimedia Creative Commons
MEN’S BASKETBALL

Fran McCaffery named new Penn men's basketball head coach

 
McCaffery is returning to his alma mater with the goal of revitalizing the men's basketball program. His 12 NCAA tournament appearances during his coaching career are the most of any Ivy League coach in history at the time of their hiring. Current players, including junior guard Ethan Roberts, expressed their hope and anticipation for next season, which will mark a new chapter for Penn men's basketball. 
 
Photo by Jesse Zhang
SWIMMING

‘This is my sport too’: 2022 Penn graduate Lia Thomas speaks at forum for transgender youth

 
While speaking at a Zoom webinar for transgender youth hosted by HiTOPS, former Penn swimmer Lia Thomas discussed her story and experience as a transgender woman in sports.
 

SWIMMING

Matt Fallon finishes second at NCAA Division I championships in 200-yard breaststroke
 

A Penn great's final collegiate swim meet. Matt Fallon, a Paris Olympian, entered as one of the favorites to compete for the NCAA 200-yard breaststroke title. Starting the 200-yard breaststroke a bit slower than usual, Fallon finished second in the race, about 0.5 seconds behind first-place Jassen Yep from Indiana.
 

 
WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Penn women’s lacrosse extends victory streak over Columbia to 26 wins


An 18-7 win over the Columbia Lions brought Penn women’s lacrosse to 26 straight wins against Columbia. After the Lions took an early 2-0 lead, Penn fought back to tie the game 3-3 by the end of the first quarter. The remainder of the game was in the Quakers’ hands, and they ran up the score thanks to aggressive offensive play and strong defense.
 
 
Keep catching up on the latest Penn Athletics news →
Photo by Samantha Turner

TRACK AND FIELD
Heightened on-campus competition fuels Edwin Klanke’s track and field stardom

Breaking both Penn and personal records, senior distance runner Edwin Klanke has overcome injuries and setbacks to find himself in the conversation of being “one of the best runners in our school’s history.”
 
Photo by Jean Park
 
GYMNASTICS is preparing for NCAA Regionals at Penn State, which begin on Wednesday. Two members of Penn’s team qualified: junior Skyelar Kerico and freshman Mimi Fletcher. [READ MORE]

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING (4-6, 1-6 Ivy) saw senior breaststroke specialist and Olympic swimmer Matt Fallon place second at NCAA Division I Championships in the 200-yard breaststroke over the weekend. [READ MORE]

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING (8-4, 3-4 Ivy) completed its season last weekend at NCAA Division I Championships, where junior freestyle/individual medley specialist Anna Moehn placed 21st and junior freestyle specialist Sydney Bergstrom placed 36th in the 1,650 free. [READ MORE]

TRACK AND FIELD saw both the men's and women's teams compete at Raleigh Relays — where Kai Eisenhardt set a personal best on pole vault — and the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational, where Chikaodinaka Akazi placed first in the 100-meter hurdles. [READ MORE]

MEN’S TENNIS (18-6, 0-1 Ivy) lost at Princeton 4-3 in the Ivy season opener. Next weekend, they return to Hamlin Courts for matches against Harvard and Dartmouth. 

WOMEN’S TENNIS (8-7, 1-0 Ivy) narrowly beat Princeton 4-3 to begin its Ivy season, with junior Maya Urata earning the winning point in three sets for the Quakers. [READ MORE]

MEN’S LACROSSE (4-6, 1-2 Ivy) lost 15-5 against No. 1 Cornell, despite having beaten them twice last season. [READ MORE]

WOMEN’S LACROSSE (5-3, 2-0 Ivy) lost closely to No. 7 Florida 13-12 but were able to bounce back to beat Columbia 18-7, beating the Lions for the 26th consecutive year. [READ MORE]

BASEBALL (9-11, 4-2 Ivy) lost the series against Dartmouth, only taking one of the three games. This is the first time Dartmouth has beaten Penn in 13 years. [READ MORE]

SOFTBALL (2-23, 0-9 Ivy) Following a 16-7 win at Drexel, the team suffered against Brown, losing 5-2, 12-7, and 12-1 on consecutive days.

MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING opened its season with wins against Dartmouth and MIT at the National College Lightweight Invitational this past Saturday.

WOMEN’S ROWING won the Orange Challenge Cup by defeating Northeastern and Syracuse at the Doc Hosea Invitational this past weekend but placed second to Rutgers in all races.

MEN’S GOLF will begin competition in the Redhawk Invitational today at Washington State as they prepare for the Ivy League Championship at the end of April.

WOMEN’S GOLF placed second in the Kingsmill Intercollegiate tournament last Tuesday.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Women’s lacrosse has never lost to Columbia in program history. Senior attacker Keely Block scored her 100th career point against the Lions on Saturday.

                                                                                                      READ THE LATEST →
Stay tuned for coverage on thedp.com and on Instagram, @dailypennsports.

APRIL 1
Baseball at Liberty Bell Classic
 

APRIL 3
Gymnastics at NCAA Regionals 
 

APRIL 6
Men’s and women’s tennis at Harvard
Today's newsletter was copy edited by Jessica Huang.
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