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Historic Sporting Events
The mother of women’s sports at Penn
In 1921, Margaret Katherine Majer became the first coach of women’s athletics teams at Penn. She is recognized as the founder of women’s sports at the University.
Justin Watson wins Super Bowl with Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2018 alumnus Justin Watson won the Super Bowl on Sunday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joining 1999 alumnus Jim Finn as the only former Penn football players with Super Bowl Rings.
Penn Athletics to celebrate 100 years of women’s sports
Starting this month, Penn Athletics will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the official start of women’s athletics at the University. This will include content on their website and social media accounts.
By the Numbers: Quakers in the NBA
As the NBA prepares to open a coronavirus-shortened season on Dec. 22, Penn Today examines a collection of Quakers who have been drafted or signed by NBA teams.
The Palestra featuring LeBron James
While a senior in high school in 2002, the NBA great played at the Palestra in a showdown pitting Akron, Ohio’s St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish against Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion Knights.
Penn Band celebrates 50 years of women on the field
After decades of superstition and pushback, the first group of women stepped onto Franklin Field with the Penn Band 50 years ago.
Penn Ice Rink celebrates 50 years
The Class of 1923 Ice Skating Rink is celebrating a half-century of service to the Penn community. Penn Today reflects on the facility’s origins, and how it has grown and transformed over the years.
Sprint football legend Tim Ortman’s big day
The sprint football legend had a Senior Night to remember in 1999, rushing for the most yards in school and league history.
A football man: Bert Bell, Penn, and the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles co-founder Bert Bell starred on the Penn football team and was later a coach, before embarking on his NFL career.
The world-famous Penn Relays, directed by Dave Johnson
On Thursday, April 25, the 125th running of the Penn Relays takes its mark at Franklin Field. Tens of thousands are expected to attend from across the globe.
In the News
Peggy Kowalski, who may have spent more hours in the Palestra than anybody ever, retires
For many of the last 38 years, as Penn Athletic’s director of special events, Kowalski has to be on the short list, maybe even at the top of it, for people who spent the most combined lifetime time at the Palestra and Franklin Field. Her earliest work days were as an undergrad selling tickets and answering to her boss who was also her father, and in honor of the two, the front lobby box office will be named the Donohue-Kowalski Box Office.
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Memories of Kobe Bryant: He was a star even among the biggest stars
The Lower Merion High graduate looms large in the Philly community and around the world, as fans share memories from the Palestra to Beijing.
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Olympic champion Greg Bell returned to Penn Relays with plenty of memories
88-year-old Greg Bell was one of the top athletes of his era. Competing for Indiana, he broke a Penn Relays record and captured four individual titles—three in his specialty, the long jump—from 1956 through 1958. Returning to Franklin Field in 2019, he carried his Olympic gold medal from the 1956 Melbourne Games, which he won seven months after his first Relay record.
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Usain Bolt remembers his historic 2010 Penn Relays performance: ‘There was a great atmosphere’
No matter where his life and his pursuits take him, the Jamaican icon always will remember his performances at the Penn Relays and what the carnival has done to help young Jamaican athletes get noticed by U.S. colleges.
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Forty years after his memorable race, Renaldo Nehemiah to return to Penn Relays
It has been 40 years since Renaldo Nehemiah created one of the most indelible memories in the history of the Penn Relays with his history-making 44.3-second anchor leg for Maryland.
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The Ivy's last stand: Penn's 1979 Final Four run marked end of an era
An Ivy League team in the Final Four? Yep. Coach Bob Weinhauer’s basketball team didn’t seem to belong— the Quakers came from a bookworm conference that didn’t, and still technically doesn’t, allow athletic scholarships. Somehow, they found a way to accomplish a ludicrous goal and advance to the Final Four. It’s a feat no Ivy team has accomplished since.
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