PHILADELPHIA – Junior Maeve Stiles and sophomore Dylan Throop continued to impress on the track this weekend, as the University of Pennsylvania track and field programs split up for successful trips to three different meets up and down the east coast.
 
DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE INVITATIONAL (Boston University)
The highlights of the weekend both took place in Boston, as Stiles and Throop each set new marks in program history in the 5,000m.
 
Stiles, who set the new program record just two weeks ago in the event, raised the bar on Saturday with a 19th place finish out of 113 competitors on a time of 15:55.03 for the fastest time in program history. Late Saturday night, Throop did the same. With a time of 13:59.42, the sophomore cruised to the top of the record book past Ryan Renken's 2020 time of 14:09.30 for the new time to beat.
 
The distance teams put up plenty of other top 10 program marks throughout the two days. In the women's 3,000m, Lily Murphy clocked a 9:27.78 to move into fifth in program history, while Olivia Morganti shifted up to seventh with a time of 9:28.37.
 
For the men, Titus Bretzke crossed the line in 1:50.34 in the 800m to land sixth in program history, while Zubeir Dagane (4:03.08) and Edwin Klanke (4:03.29) clocked times to move into ninth and 10th in the record book for the mile.
 
TIGER PAW INVITATIONAL (Clemson University)
The Quakers sent a handful of athletes to Death Valley for the annual Tiger Paw Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
 
On the men's side, freshman Shane Gardner clocked a time of 8.11 in the 60m hurdles preliminaries.
 
For the women, three Quakers performed in individual events while the 4x400 squad put together a strong outing.
 
Freshman Moforehan Abinusawa put together a qualifying time of 7.39 in the 60m preliminaries before taking 23rd in the semifinals with a time of 7.37. Caia Gelli finished with a time of 24.85 in the 200m, taking 82nd overall. Isabella Whittaker set the best mark of the weekend as an individual, clocking a time of 54.58 in the 400m, setting a new PR but holding her at fourth in program history.
 
At the 4x400m, the grouping of Abinusawa, Whittaker, Jocelyn Niemiec, and Aliya Garozzo put together a time of 3:37.67 to finish 15th. The mark is good enough for second in program history, missing the record by roughly two seconds.
 
DARIUS DIXON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL (Liberty University)
At the two-day meet down in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Quakers set six different top 10 program marks, three for the men and three for the women.
 
On the men's side, Robbie Ruppel and Alec Jackson secured top three finishes in the 500m. Ruppel finished second with a time of 1:03.76, while Jackson finished third with a time of 1:03.77. Their times move them into seventh and eighth in program history, respectively. Nick Faries came in right behind the pair for fourth with a time of 1:04.68.
 
The other mark for the men came on the infield at the pole vault where James Rhoads set a new mark of 5.23m for a fourth place finish and fifth in program history. Benedikt Sachta finished in a close sixth place for the day with a clearance of 5.08m.
 
For the women, two of the marks also happened on the infield for the pole vault. In the Open event, Kai Eisenhardt earned first place with a height of 3.80m to shift into ninth in the record book. In the Elite event, Meghan Hart took eighth overall with a clearance of 3.91m to move up to third in program history.
 
The last mark took place on the track for the women as Christiana Nwachuku took fourth in the 60m with a time of 7.55 to land fourth in the program record book.
 
The Quakers had a several other top five finishes for the weekend. Tamara Grahovac secured first place in the triple jump with a distance of 12.36m. The men's 800m saw Kyle Miller take fourth with a time of 1:51.48, while Liam Going took third in the 1,000m after clocking a time of 2:26.09. The men wrapped up the day in the 4x400m relay, taking second overall with a time of 3:13.86 by the grouping of Dimitri Nicholson, Emerson Douds, Alec Jackson, and Ruppel. The squad narrowly missed the program record by 1.5 seconds.
 
UP NEXT
All eyes go to indoor championship season, as the Quaker prepare for a trip to Hanover, New Hampshire for the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships beginning on Saturday, Feb. 25. The two-day event will take place on the campus of Dartmouth.