The University of Pennsylvania men’s and women’s track and field teams will begin their 2025-26 indoor season by hosting the Penn Opener at the Jane and David Ott Center for Track and Field in Philadelphia on December 5-6. The event will feature several schools, including Delaware, Georgetown, Hampton, Rider, St. Joseph’s, Temple, Princeton, Morgan State, and Villanova.
Multi-event competitions start Friday afternoon with the men’s heptathlon at 2:00 p.m., followed by the women’s pentathlon at 2:30 p.m. The men’s heptathlon continues Saturday at 2:15 p.m. Field events begin Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m., while running events are set to start at 1:30 p.m. Spectators can purchase tickets for $5 (youth ages 2-12) or $10 (adults), and live results as well as a live broadcast on ESPN+ will be available.
Penn’s track and field program enters the season with six returning indoor individual conference champions and seven outdoor champions from last year’s roster. Among them is Ryan Matulonis, who placed first in both the Ivy Heptagonal Outdoor Championships’ 400m hurdles—setting a meet record—and the indoor Ivy League Heptagonal Championships’ 500m race. Senior Kampton Kam returns after breaking Singapore’s national outdoor high jump record and earning top finishes at NCAA championships.
Other notable athletes include Jake Rose (heptagonal indoors/decathlon outdoors), Shane Gardner (60m hurdles indoors), Nayyir Newash-Campbell (400m outdoors), Atticus Soehren (javelin outdoors), Moforehan Abinusawa (three-time champion in indoor 60m/outdoor 100m), Angeludi Asaah (shot put indoors/discus outdoors), Chikaodinaka Akazi (100m hurdles outdoors), and Zofia Limbert (high jump outdoors).
The Ott Center is a new facility spanning 73,000 square feet along River Fields Drive near Penn Park. It features a banked 200-meter running track designed for optimal performance, two long jump/triple jump runways, two pole vault runways, an eight-lane infield for sprints, hurdles and high jump events, as well as areas for shot put and weight throw competitions. With seating for over 1,000 spectators, it aims to support both Penn Relays—the nation’s oldest track event—and future youth through collegiate meets.
Upcoming meets hosted by Penn include the Penn Select on January 10; Quaker Invitational on January 17; Penn 10 Elite from January 22-24; Penn Invitational on January 30; and Stan Scott Invitational in Lubbock, Texas on January 30-31.
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