Penn Track and Field 2017-18 Schedule

PHILADELPHIA - Coming off record-breaking accomplishments a year ago, the University of Pennsylvania track and field programs have announced their upcoming schedule for the 2017-18 season. The Quakers will travel to locations both familiar and new, with several exciting outdoor home meets at Franklin Field to look forward to.

"There is a great deal of anticipation among our coaching staff and student-athletes as we look ahead at the track and field seasons to come," said James P. Tuppeny/Betty J. Costanza Director of Track and Field Steve Dolan. "With a large number of NCAA qualifiers returning and a very talented freshman class, we focused on constructing a schedule that would allow us to see great competition at first class venues to ensure our teams have the opportunity to chase their potential. We are very excited about how the schedule has come together." 

Nine regular season meets highlight the indoor slate of competition for the Quakers that begins on Dec. 1 at the Lehigh Season Opener in Bethlehem, Pa. After wrapping up the calendar year at the New Year Invitational in Princeton, N.J., Penn will return to action on Jan. 13 at the Navy Invitational in Maryland. The Quakers will visit the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island three times in 2018, including action at the Penn 8-Team Select, while also taking part in the Big Apple Challenge at the historic Armory in New York. The always exciting Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships will run from Feb. 24-25 at Dartmouth College with the season culminating at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships at Texas A&M.

"The indoor season features some great competition on a regular basis while competing in some of the best venues in the country such as the Naval Academy, The Armory, the Ocean Breeze Complex and Boston University," commented Dolan. 

Penn opens up the outdoor season at home, hosting the Penn Challenge on March 24, welcoming Army West Point, Columbia, Cornell, Rider, St. John's and Villanova to Franklin Field. The last weekend of March will feature Quakers across the country, as the Red and Blue are slated to compete at both the Raleigh Relays and Florida Relays against some of the nation's best competition. 

It will be a busy month of April for Penn, including two meets at Princeton and one at George Mason before the month concludes (as it always does) with the 124th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Postseason racing begins at home for Penn, as the Quakers will host the 2018 Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships for the 18th time from May 5-6. ECAC/IC4A Championships are set to follow the next week at Princeton, N.J.

The road to Eugene begins in Tampa, Fla. for the Red and Blue this season, as South Florida will host the NCAA East Region Preliminaries from May 24-26. Those who qualify will then appear on the nation's biggest stage at the NCAA Finals in Oregon beginning on June 6. The year concludes for the Red and Blue with a trip across the pond to participate in two meets in mid-June, including another running of the Transatlantic Series at Oxford University. 

"The outdoor season presents and equally competitive meet schedule with a number of highlights," continued Dolan. "It's always very special to compete at home at Franklin Field so the Penn Challenge, the Penn Relays and Ivy Heps are clearly premier events for our program. We're also looking forward to early season competitions down south at both the Florida and Raleigh Relays. Finally, we have the honor of closing our season and year with an international trip. Our two week excursion to the United Kingdom will include competitions with Birmingham University, Oxford University and Cambridge University."

The Quakers have broken or matched the school record for NCAA outdoor qualifiers in each of Coach Dolan's five seasons at the helm and have produced at least one outdoor All-American each year. Last year saw 25 from the men's and women's teams combined advance to NCAA's, shattering the previous record of 16. The women's squad currently holds 74 top-10 school records from active members of the roster, while the men feature 21. Both squads welcome in a highly touted recruiting class into the fold for action beginning in December.