Previewing Penn’s fall sports

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

VOL. CXXXVIII

PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022

NO. 16

Previewing Penn’s Fall Slate

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL Sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin scrambles out of the pocket during a November 2021 game against Cornell.

Football and volleyball will look to improve upon disappointing 2021 seasons

ESTHER LIM Sports Editor

In the second full season on return from the pandemic pause, Penn fall sports are aimed toward results on the page and reaching for conference titles, with teams juggling a unique toolbox of mixed experience in rosters, several new names across the coaching staff, and schedules keen on bringing a challenge. Having a recent past season to note weaknesses and redress them in quick turnaround, this year notes an exciting prospect of tracking progress in each team; whether they wish to forget poor records and begin on a blank slate, or build upon winning momentums of last fall.

Cross Country

Penn will return to familiar tracks to repeat and best its records as its campaign builds toward championship season. The Quakers will begin close to home with three meets in Pennsylvania, where benchmarks against competitors will rival again in end-of-season championship meets. With proven leadership under coach Steve Dolan, Penn aims to improve upon a third out of eight finish at the Ivy League Heptagonal, and a sixth out of 26 finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals.

PHOTO BY DIEGO CARDENAS Senior forward/midfielder Sydney Huang hits the ball in an October 2021 match vs. Yale.

Field Hockey

Penn concluded its 2021 season with six wins in seven games, finalizing its record to 9-7, 5-2 Ivy. Each of its losses only arose against nationallyranked teams early in the season, which honed the team for consistent conference wins that lifted the Red and Blue to third in the Ivy League.

The team has also been able to preserve a reliable group of upperclassmen, who will be crucial to elevating the team to reach for those final few margins in their Ivy League crown pursuit. The Quakers will now aim to chase Harvard and Princeton, the only two ranked teams in the Ivy League last season, while also maintaining command over each of its bested Ivy League rivals.

PHOTO BY SUKHMANI KAUR

Senior defender Peyton Raun prepares to dribble in Penn’s October 2021 matchup against Cornell.

Football

Coach Ray Priore’s brigade will welcome 25 new recruits as he leads the Quakers for his seventh season, in search of a winning record only last claimed in 2018. With a three win, seven loss season in its rearview mirrors, the team must prove quickly whether it can shed its ailments as diagnoses of the past. Penn will begin with back-to-back home games to commence the 2022 season — a test to sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin, who played five games in 2021, as well as the younger players who are stepping up into leadership responsibilities.

“[Sayin] stepped up to the plate into a situation where he didn’t know what was going to happen,” Priore said. “His first career start, I think, was at Yale on the road. ... We watched the film and we were like, ‘This guy can play; this kid can play with the big dogs.’ That was something we all realized last season, that this kid, he’s a player, and he’s going to go out there and work hard and compete. What more can you ask for for the quarterback to take control and run the offense the way it needs to be done?”

A tepid offense that averaged just 19.1 points per game, a perhaps reluctance toward bold, new calls to mend weakness, and a bottom-league finish to sign off the season, Priore’s prescription for the team must near heroism to bury the 2021 campaign in its

See FALL SPORTS, page 19

A conversation with Joe Miller, former Quaker and Savannah Banana turned Detroit Tigers MLB Draft Pick

Joe Miller’s introduction to a career as a professional baseball rookie turned his life upside down in a matter of one week, as he now trains in Florida

ESTHER LIM Sports Editor

Within just days of waiting in anxious anticipation ahead of the 2022 MLB Draft, then signing his name on the dotted line with the Detroit Tigers, Penn baseball graduate Joe Miller flew out to the Tigers’ spring training complex in Florida with only business on his mind — but not with a dream of sitting behind a heavy desk, dressed in a pressed suit, and being addressed as “general manager.” Rather, he’s suiting up with resolute full-focus to prove that the only place he belongs at the moment is on the mound.

The left-handed pitcher graduated from Wharton this past spring, and now joins Detroit’s college-heavy MLB draft class as an 11th round, 327th overall pick. He has shed the Red and Blue after an immense season with the Quakers, but finds it more difficult to peel away the Banana yellow as he learns to handle the fickle ride of life as a rookie in professional baseball.

Congratulations on being drafted with the Detroit Tigers! How are you doing? How have the past few weeks been?

“Thank you. It was stressful at first, I would

Meet Corky Calhoun, the last Penn alum to win an NBA Finals

Over his eight-year NBA career, Calhoun played with the likes of Kareem AbdulJabbar, Bill Walton, and Pat Riley

MATTHEW FRANK

Sports Editor

Forty-five years.

That’s how long it’s been since the original “Star Wars” debuted in theaters. And that was also the last time a Penn alumnus appeared on a winning NBA Finals team.

The occasion arose in June of 1977, when David “Corky” Calhoun won the NBA title with the Portland Trail Blazers. Sharing a roster with greats like Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas, the 6-foot-7 forward brought defensive skill and rebounding prowess off the bench, skills he harnessed as a budding prospect on a thriving college team.

During Calhoun’s three All-Ivy and All-Big 5 seasons with the Quakers, Penn reached the NCAA Tournament three times, made the Elite Eight twice, and climbed as high as No. 2 in the AP poll (the highest ranking Penn has ever held).

Playing in three March Madnesses and in the competitive Big 5 and Ivy League, Calhoun was tested by some of the biggest stars in college basketball, arguably none bigger than University of Massachusetts Amherst