Sports

Director of Operations Sarah Parks of the men's basketball team staff folds her arms while posing with the Philly skyline in the background.

Rarefied air

One of only a few female members of a college men’s basketball staff, Penn’s Sarah Parks has jumped into her new gig.

Penn Today Staff ・

Breukelen Woodard of the women's soccer team poses sitting down near a Penn shield at Rhodes Field.

Bend it like Breukelen

Breukelen Woodard of the women’s soccer team talks transferring to Penn, adjusting to the Ivy League, the job of an attacking midfielder, and her fondness for classic rock.

Greg Johnson ・

Senior quarterback Eddie Jenkins, captain of the sprint football team, holds a football on Franklin Field near the goal post.

Fast Eddie

Sprint football captain Eddie Jenkins chats about his football origins, maintaining weight, interning for the Steelers, and lessons learned from Coach Bill Wagner.

Greg Johnson ・



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn athletic director Grace Calhoun is busier than ever, as chair of NCAA Division I council

In addition to being athletic director, overseeing 33 varsity sports, Calhoun is chair of the NCAA Division I council, part of the NCAA board of directors, and the NCAA board of governors. But that’s not all—Calhoun is also chair of the Ivy League’s committee on administration, essentially the working committee of Ivy athletic directors.

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Sports Illustrated

You Relays got a hold on me

Letting go of this weekend’s Penn Relays, canceled by COVID-19 for the first time in their 125-year history, will sting harshly. By carrying on through past wars and national emergencies, the annual track and field extravaganza has enthralled millions, legitimized the sport in the U.S. and advanced racial integration.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

This runner was a favorite for the U.S. Olympic team. Then came the coronavirus pandemic

The middle-distance runner from Penn, who ran the second-fastest 800 meters in NCAA history, was quickly turning her focus to the Olympics, until the coronavirus put everything on hold. Now training for her “peak” has been put off indefinitely.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn track star and Olympic hopeful Nia Akins tones down her rigorous schedule

For someone who specializes in time management, as an emerging world-class athlete and a student in Penn’s School of Nursing, Nia Akins is scaling back some of her training, and her course load is a little lighter online. With her training on a “freelance” schedule, Akins is hopeful that Penn will consider giving a fifth year of eligibility to spring sports athletes who weren’t able to compete this year.

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ESPN

NCAA panel backs spring athlete eligibility relief

In an email to a large group of administrators and other parties working in college athletics, NCAA Division I Council Committee chair Grace Calhoun, the athletic director at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote that the committee will “also discuss issues related to seasons of competition for winter sport student-athletes who were unable to participate in conference and NCAA championships.”

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