Freshmen break records in indoor season opener for Penn track and field

Let’s start the indoor season off with a bang, shall we?

Meet, facility, program, and Ivy League records were broken at the Penn Opener on Friday and Saturday at the Ott Center for Track and Field. The men’s team notched wins in the heptathlon, long jump, pole vault, 60-meter hurdles, 1,000m run, 3,000m run, and the 4x400m relay. Members of the women’s team added wins in the pole vault, triple jump, 300m dash and 4x400m relay. The first indoor meet of the season offered an exciting look at what the indoor track and field season may hold for the Quakers.

“It’s always exciting to start the season after the whole fall of training for track and field, so it’s been fun to watch the team compete,” coach Steve Dolan said. “And one of the things that‘s special, I think, is to also watch the freshmen for the first time wearing the Penn uniform. We had a lot of great freshman performances today, along with upperclassmen, so that was a lot of fun.”

One year after the grand opening of the Ott Center, 14 schools came to compete in this year’s Penn Opener. The student-athletes from Delaware, Georgetown, Hampton, Rider, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Penn, Princeton, Morgan State, Villanova, The College of NJ, Monmouth, Yale, and Penn State were joined by some unattached and national team athletes. 

Here are some standout performances from the Quakers.

While there were many stars at the meet, one student-athlete shone brighter than them all: freshman shot put thrower Jessica Oji. 

In her first ever collegiate competition, her 16.6m throw on her first attempt put her in the lead, which she never let up. She continued through her attempts, eventually throwing 17.15 meters on her best attempt out of the first five. On her final attempt, Oji stepped up to the plate and threw an incredible 17.72 meters — not just a program best, but notably half a meter more than the Ivy League record. To put this into perspective, only two out of 13 shot putters in the men’s competition threw further than that mark. On top of it all, the performance propels Oji to No.1 in the NCAA. 

“My first couple throws, they were okay. Coming into finals … I was feeling a little bit tired, I was trying to get one on my last throw, [I] was really shooting for a big number,” Oji said. “Extremely happy with this performance.”

According to throwing coach Isaiah Simmons, Oji came to Penn with big goals in mind.

“She’s put in a lot of work, and this is just the beginning. So we’re pretty excited how she’s starting,” Simmons said. “I know she told me she wants to throw 20 meters, break the national record, and compete at the international stage. So as long as I feel like we are pushing her towards those goals, then they’re my goals as well.”

Another impressive freshman was distance runner Joseph “Tiago” Socarras, who broke the program record in his first 1,000m run with a time of 2:20.39. 

The upperclassmen also rewrote the record books. Two more program records were set by junior jumper Adannia Agbo, who jumped 13.05 meters in the triple jump, as well as senior multis specialist Jake Rose, who won the men’s heptathlon with 5647 points. Rose starts this season as the defending Ivy League champion in the heptathlon. Agbo’s mark puts her second in the NCAA so far this season. 

Other notable freshman performers were jumper Leo Francis and sprinter Rianna Floyd. While the former took the win with 6.92 meters in the men’s long jump, Floyd ran a time of 38.75 in the 300m dash, placing her first out of 49 athletes. As the anchor for Penn’s A team in the 4×400 meter relay, she also played a significant role in its win by a margin of more than four seconds. 

The meet also brought some nationally competing non-collegiate athletes to the Ott Center. Ajeé Wilson, two-time Olympian and 2022 world indoor track and field champion in the 800 meters, won the women’s 600m race comfortably. The women’s 1,000m race went to 2024 Olympian, reigning indoor track and field national champion in the 800m race, and 2020 Nursing graduate Nia Akins. 

Following a holiday break, the Quakers will return to the Ott Center on Jan. 10, 2026 for the Penn Select.