PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's and women's track & field programs opened its outdoor season on Saturday afternoon at the Penn Challenge, hosted at Franklin Field.
The men's team excelled in field events by sweeping the discus, the javelin and the pole vault with top-10 all-time performances. Marc Minichello won the javelin with a toss of 68.58m (225-0), the third-best throw in program history; Chudi Ikpeazu tossed the discus 55.47m (182-0), the fourth-best all-time; and Sean Clarke won the pole vault and Payton Morris matched his height at 5.16m (16-11), tied for the fifth-best height while Nathan Fisher cleared 5.06m (16-7.25), the ninth-best height all-time.
On the women's side, Rachel Lee Wilson shattered the program record in the hammer throw with a toss of 63.21m (207-04) and freshman Mayyi Mahama launched the second-best throw all-time with a distance of 57.29m (187-11). Skyla Wilson ran away with the 400m hurdles victory in impressive fashion. The freshman crossed the line in 1:02.00, the seventh-best time in program history.
MEN
In track events, Colin Daly captured the 3K in 8:31.02 as Penn placed six runners inside the top 10. Will Daly finished third in 8:31.67 before Anthony Russo, Alex Roth, Daniel Cohen and Aaron Groff combined to finish seventh-through-10th, respectively.
Enoch Cheung and Ray Sellaro both finished as runners-up on Saturday in solid efforts as freshmen in their first collegiate outdoor meets. Cheung crossed the line in 14.95 in the 110m hurdles while Sellaro finished the 800m in 1:53.89. Jared Elters wasn't far behind Cheung, finishing in 15.19. Sellaro actually was the first of five Quakers to cross the line in the top-seven positions in the 800m, edging out Mason Gatewood (1:54.72) with Joe Novak (1:55.13), James Lee (1:55.14) and Elias Graca (1:55.37) taking positions five through seven. Additionally, Ryan Renken placed third in the 1500m with a time of 3:59.95.
In field events, in addition to the three wins for Penn, Cristian Constantin cleared 6.95m (22-9.75) and Demetri Whitsett reached 6.88m (22-7) to place fourth and fifth in the long jump. Jake Kubiatowicz won the hammer throw with a toss of 56.56m (185-07) and Campbell Parker placed fourth with a throw of 53.84m (176-08). Additionally, Cam Landis finished third in the shot put with a throw of 16.34m (53-7.50).
WOMEN
In the women's track events, plenty of Quakers finished near the top of the leaderboard. Wilson ran away with the 400m hurdles, but also Maddie Villalba, the winner of the 800m at indoor Heps last month, won the 800m in 2:11.48. Caroline O'Neil was the second runner to cross the line in the 400m, registering a time of 59.19. Freshman Mia Knight impressed in her first outdoor collegiate meet with a second-place finish in the 100m (12.46) and a fourth-place result in the 200m (25.74). Wilson and Breanne Bygrave took fourth and fifth in the 100m hurdles, finishing in 14.48 and 14.68, respectively. Finally, in the 3K, Juliet Kohli placed fourth with a time of 10:11.87 while Carole Harsch was fifth in 10:12.39.
In the field events, Anna Peyton Malizia won the high jump (1.78m, 5-10), Kathryn Schoenauer took the long jump (5.78m, 18-11.75) and Maura Kimmel won the shot put (14.96m, 49-1). Ashley Anumba placed third in the shot put with a toss of 14.42m (47-3.75), matching her PR, which sits fourth in program history. Kimmel and Anumba went one-two in the discus with throws of 48.43m (158-11) and 48.10m (157-10), respectively. Wilson broke the program record in the hammer throw with a massive toss of 63.21m (207-04), and Mahama put up the second-best distance with a throw of 57.29m (187-11).
WHAT'S NEXT?
Next week, the teams will be split in two locations. Some groups will be in Austin, Texas for the Texas Relays while the rest will travel to NC State for the Raleigh Relays. Both meets will begin on Friday, March 29 and continue through Saturday, March 31.
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