CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – CHAMPIONS! For the first time since 1987-88, the University of Pennsylvania women's track & field program captured back-to-back Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Heptagonal Championships.
The Quakers finished with 136 points at Harvard's Gordon Indoor Track, just one shy of last year's program record, behind championships in eight different events, the most ever in program history.
Nia Akins was named the Most Outstanding Indoor Track Performer of the weekend after winning the 1000m and anchoring the 4x880 yard relay team, which included Caroline O'Sullivan, Katie DeVore and Melissa Tanaka, to a dominant win. Akins is the first Penn woman ever to win the award.
Penn entered Sunday sitting in second thanks to Rachel Lee Wilson's title in the weight throw, Mayyi Mahama's second place in the weight throw and scorers in the long jump – Camille Dickson (fourth) and Elena Brown-Soler (sixth) – and the pole vault – Abby Norwillo (fourth) and Katie Schroeder (sixth).
The Quakers wound up cruising to the title on Sunday, as Akins became the first Quaker woman to win the 1000m - and finished fast enough to shatter the Ivy League record - and the Penn took the 4x440 relay, run by Elena Brown-Soler, Skyla Wilson, Cecil Ene and Uchechi Nwogwugwu, in addition to the 4x880 relay crown. Also on the track, Ene won the 200m and Tanaka took the 800m final, becoming the first Penn athletes to win those events since 2008; Ene also placed second in the 400m.
Once again, Penn dominated the field events with Anna Peyton Malizia winning the high jump for the second straight year and Maura Kimmel taking the shot put, in addition to the 28 points scored on Saturday in the weight throw, pole vault and long jump. Olivia Welsh also scored in the high jump, placing sixth, and Victoria Agyin notched four more points in the triple jump for the Quakers.
The Red and Blue captured a program-record eight titles, but also came mightily close in a few other races. Ene (400m) Nwogwugwu (500m) and Maddie Villalba (mile) all tallied runner-up finishes and each added eight points to the total. What's most impressive, however, is that all 10 athletes that advanced from Saturday's prelims finished inside the top six and scored points for Penn on Sunday.
Women's Final Team Scores
1. Penn – 136
2. Harvard – 102
3. Dartmouth – 85
4. Cornell – 80
5. Princeton – 79
6. Brown – 62
7. Columbia – 55
8. Yale – 21
Penn Women's Scored Results
Cecil Ene – 200m – 1st (24.12)
Melissa Tanaka – 800m – 1st (2:07.87)
Nia Akins – 1000m – 1st (2:43.92)
Elena Brown-Soler, Skyla Wilson, Cecil Ene, Uchechi Nwogwugwu – 4x440 yard relay – 1st (3:43.68)
Caroline O'Sullivan, Katie DeVore, Melissa Tanaka, Nia Akins – 4x880 yard relay – 1st (8:52.10)
Anna Peyton Malizia – High Jump – 1st (1.74m)
Maura Kimmel – Shot Put – 1st (16.07m)
Rachel Lee Wilson – Weight Throw – 1st (20.53m)
Cecil Ene – 400m – 2nd (54.47)
Uchechi Nwogwugwu – 500m – 2nd (1:12.37)
Maddie Villalba – Mile – 2nd (4:44.68)
Mayyi Mahama – Weight Throw – 2nd (19.59m)
Skyla Wilson – 500m – 4th (1:13.38)
Abby Norwillo – Pole Vault – 4th (3.91m)
Camille Dickson – Long Jump – 4th (5.80m)
Victoria Agyin – Triple Jump – 4th (12.41m)
Elena Brown-Soler – 200m – 5th (24.90)
Camille Dickson – 400m – 6th (56.73)
Katie DeVore – 800m – 6th (2:11.38)
Marin Warner, Caroline O'Neil, Ellen Byrnes, Olivia Ryan – DMR – 6th (12:02.09)
Olivia Welsh – High Jump – 6th (1.70m)
Katie Schroeder – Pole Vault – 6th (3.81m)
Elena Brown-Soler – Long Jump – 6th (5.78m)
#FightOnPenn
