HANOVER, N.H. - A championship 22 years in the making. At the same site as their last Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championship in 1996, the University of Pennsylvania women's track and field team soared to the top of the Ancient Eight, winning Heps with a program record 137 points. Penn tallied six individual championship throughout the weekend, its most since 1988.
Heading into Saturday with the lead, the Quakers were relentless in their attack, continuing to rack up points on both the track and the field.
Maddie Villalba started the day with a second-place showing in the mile, finishing in 4:49.26, beginning what would be a slew of All-Ivy performances for the Red and Blue. Classmate
Breanne Bygrave followed that up with a silver medal showing in the 60m hurdles, collecting eight points in 8.55 seconds. Penn would drop a bomb in the 400m, collecting three of the six scoring positions, led by freshman
Caroline O'Neil in second at 55.89 seconds,
Cecil Ene in third and
Camille Dickson in sixth.
Penn's second championship of the weekend came in form of rookie
Uchechi Nwogwugwu. After competing in the 500m for the first time all season in Saturday's prelims, the Pennsylvania native followed that up with a first-place showing of 1:13.09, ranking fifth in program history. The 500m win is the first in program history in the event, while
Candace Taylor was right behind, placing third with a time of 1:14.66.
Taylor McCorkle then took over for the Red and Blue, scoring twice on the day, first in the 60m with a second-place performance of 7.49, before finishing sixth in the 200m at 24.68.
With the sprint races in the rearview mirror, it was time for none other than distance queen herself
Abby Hong to step back onto the track and conclude a magical weekend, placing first in the 5,000m. Hanging around the lead pack for the majority of the race, Hong kicked it into overdrive right before the bell lap to cruise to the championship, adding to her win from Saturday in the 3,000m. Hong's final time of 16:24.46 shattered the Penn record in the event by over four seconds, and was followed by freshman
Danielle Orie's time of 16:32.85 in sixth place and third in Penn laurels.
Penn put an exclamation point on its day on the track with a first place finish in the 4x800m relay, its first since 1985. The quartet of
Gina Alm,
Mikayla Schneider,
Nia Akins and
Katie DeVore teamed up to deliver a performance of 8:47.87, nearly three seconds ahead of the nearest competition. The Quakers ended the day with yet another second-place showing in the 4x400m relay, going 3:44.05 in the fastest heat.
On the field, Penn grabbed two individual championships in events that it had never won at Heps before: the weight throw and high jump. In weight throw,
Rachel Lee Wilson threw for a distance of 18.70m, taking first, while
Anna Peyton Malizia cleared a new school-record height of 1.80m in the high jump to grab gold.
Sunday's championship for the women caps an unbelievable three-year stretch, as the Quakers went from seventh in 2016, to second last year, to top of the pack in 2018.
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Women's Final Team Scores
1. Penn - 137
2. Harvard - 105
3. Dartmouth - 96
4. Columbia - 80
5. Cornell - 75
6. Princeton - 65
7. Brown - 47
8. Yale - 15
Penn Women's Scored Results
Abby Hong - 3,000m - 1st (9:38.98)
Abby Hong - 5,000m - 1st (16:24.46)
Uchechi Nwogwugwu - 500m - 1st (1:13.09)
Gina Alm,
Mikayla Schneider,
Nia Akins,
Katie DeVore - 4x800m Relay - 1st (8:47.87)
Rachel Lee Wilson - Weight Throw - 1st (18.60m)
Anna Peyton Malizia - High Jump - 1st (1.80m)
Maddie Villalba - Mile - 2nd (4:49.26)
Breanne Bygrave - 60m Hurdles - 2nd (8.55)
Caroline O'Neil - 400m - 2nd (55.89)
Taylor McCorkle - 60m - 2nd (7.49)
Candace Taylor,
Caroline O'Neil,
Cecil Ene,
Uchechi Nwogwugwu - 4x400m Relay - 2nd (3:44.05)
Molly Minnig - Pole Vault - 2nd (3.95m)
Maura Kimmel - Shot Put - 2nd (15.00m)
Cecil Ene - 400m - 3rd (56.98)
Candace Taylor - 500m - 3rd (1:14.66)
Danielle Orie - 3,000m - 5th (9:45.92)
Nicole Macco - Pole Vault - 5th (3.85m)
Elena Brown-Soler - Pentathlon - 5th (3,589 points)
Camille Dickson - 400m - 6th (57.60)
Taylor McCorkle - 200m - 6th (24.68)
Danielle Orie - 5,000m - 6th (16:32.85)
#FightOnPenn
