ITHACA – BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS! The University of Pennsylvania women's track & field program captured its third consecutive Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championship on Sunday with eight event titles and a total of 133 points. The three-peat is the first time in program history that the Quakers earned three straight titles.
Nia Akins was named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete for the second straight season and adds that to her collection that also includes the same award in outdoor competition and the Penn Relays College Athlete of the Meet award from 2019. On Sunday, Akins won the 1,000m and Mile races while helping the Quakers earn two points as the anchor in the DMR.
The team championship was still up for grabs down the final race, the 4x400m relay, and Penn even trailed heading into the final two relays but the group's extensive depth proved too much for the rest of the field, capturing both the 4x880m and 4x400m titles.
Entering the 4x880m race, Penn trailed Harvard by five points, but Caroline O'Sullivan, Katie DeVore, Ellen Byrnes and Melissa Tanaka combined to run an 8:55.51 and grab all 10 points to surge in front by five. Then, the prized quartet of Skyla Wilson, Cecil Ene, Elena Brown-Soler and Uchechi Nwogwugwu ran a 3:41.16 in the 4x400m to easily win and clinch the team championship.
In total, the Quakers won six individual titles, beginning on Saturday with Mayyi Mahama's victory in the weight throw with an Ivy League-record mark of 21.76m (71-4.75). Penn then won the first race on Sunday as Akins cruised to the mile win in 4:46.05. Sophomore Skyla Wilson was the next to capture all 10 points, pulling away from the 500m field and winning by more than a second, in 1:13.22, the sixth-best time in program history. The Quakers put their stamp on the middle-distance races as Tanaka won her second straight indoor 800m title in 2:09.79, just before Akins won the 1,000m in 2:51.20. In the field events, Maura Kimmel scored her second consecutive indoor crown as well with a 15.43m (50-7.5) mark in the shot put.
Throughout the day, though, the Red and Blue stripes were in scoring positions. In every single race on the track on Sunday, the Quakers earned at least a point. Freshman Lauryn Harris was the first of three runners-up on the day, finishing in a program-record time of 8.38 in the 60m hurdles; Ene placed second for the second year in a row in the 400m in 55.79; and Mia Knight crossed the line with the second-best time of 7.51 in the 60m dash.
The other scorers on the day were: Breanne Bygrave (fourth, 8.46) in the 60m hurdles; Katie DeVore (fourth, 2:11.50) in the 800m; freshman Jessica Riedman (sixth, 2:56.17) in the 1,000m; Ene (third, 24.52) and Brown-Soler in the 200m (fourth, 24.52); and Ariana Gardizy (sixth, 16:58.65) in the massive field of the 5,000m.
Women's Final Team Scores
1. Penn – 133
2. Harvard – 126
3. Cornell – 82.5
4. Princeton – 68
5. Columbia – 64.66
6. Brown – 57
7. Yale – 50.33
8. Dartmouth – 38.5
Women's Scored Results
Mayyi Mahama, Weight Throw – 1st | 21.76m (71-4.75)
Maura Kimmel, Shot Put – 1st | 15.43m (50-7.5)
Skyla Wilson, 500m – 1st | 1:13.22
Melissa Tanaka, 800m – 1st | 2:09.79
Nia Akins, 1,000m – 1st | 2:51.20
Nia Akins, Mile – 1st | 4:46.05
Skyla Wilson, Cecil Ene, Elena Brown-Soler, Uchechi Nwogwugwu, 4x400m relay – 1st | 3:41.16
Caroline O'Sullivan, Katie DeVore, Ellen Byrnes, Melissa Tanaka, 4x880m relay – 1st | 8:55.51
Mia Knight, 60m – 2nd | 7.51
Lauryn Harris, 60m Hurdles – 2nd | 8.38
Cecil Ene, 400m – 2nd | 55.79
Elena Brown-Soler, Long Jump – 3rd | 6.01m (19-8.75)
Cecil Ene, 200m – 3rd | 24.52
Breanne Bygrave, 60m Hurdles – 4th | 8.46
Elena Brown-Soler, 200m – 4th | 24.52
Katie DeVore, 800m – 4th | 2:11.50
Julianna Catania, Lauryn Harris, Jessica Riedman, Nia Akins, DMR – 5th | 11:43.90
Lauryn Harris, Long Jump – 6th | 5.87m (19-3.25)
Jessica Riedman, 1,000m – 6th | 2:56.17
Ariana Gardizy, 5,000m – 6th | 16:58.65
#ThePursuit
