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Penn Athletics

The University of Pennsylvania Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics provides athletic and recreational opportunities to thousands of students on campus on an annual basis. The Athletic Department supports 33 intercollegiate athletic programs that participate on the NCAA Division I level. Additionally, the Department of Recreation hosts 33 club sports that more than 1,600 students participate in on an annual basis.

In the past 10 years, Penn has had 63 teams earn conference championships from 18 different sports, with several teams winning their first Ivy League championships in school history. Penn has crowned four individuals and one team as national champions, while also being honored with more than 300 Academic All-Ivy honorees, 21 Ivy League Players of the Year, nine Ivy Rookies of the Year, 65 All-Americans and five NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients. The Red and Blue Athletic Department has hosted three women’s national championships -- 1998 Field Hockey, 2000 Women’s Rowing; 2000 Women’s Basketball Final Four -- opened or renovated eight athletic facilities including The Palestra (basketball, wrestling, volleyball), Ringe Squash Courts, Penn Boathouse, Pottruck Wrestling Complex, Penn Baseball Stadium at Murphy Field, Rhodes Soccer Field, Pottruck Health and Fitness Center (campus fitness and recreation) and the James D. Dunning Jr., Coaches Center (coaches offices and recruiting rooms). Penn also welcomes more than 100,000 fans every year for the annual Penn Relays held at Franklin Field, the world’s largest annual track and field event. Penn also served as the host institution for the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships, held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, and will be home to the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship at Franklin Field.

Penn Athletics has several veteran coaches who bring the level of Penn Athletics to new heights on an annual basis. On the football field, Head Coach Al Bagnoli has led the Quakers to six Ivy titles, including four undefeated Ancient Eight campaigns, and three overall unbeaten seasons. In 15 seasons, Bagnoli owns more than 100 overall victories and oversaw the longest winning streak in Division I-AA football. The Penn men’s and women’s fencing coach, Dave Micahnik, is also a Penn alum. He graduated in 1959 and has spent the last 33 seasons at the helm of the fencing programs at Penn. His 2004 women's team captured its first Ivy League title since claiming back-to-back crowns in 1994 and 1995 with a perfect 5-0 record (19-1 overall). The Quakers women's team also won its first-ever Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) title.Overall, Micahnik’s men’s and women’s teams have collected 22 Ivy League titles, and 32 Quakers have competed internationally as members of United States national teams.

Steve Bilsky, W’71, Athletic Director
It has been 12 years since Penn alum Steve Bilsky, W'71 took over the reins as Athletic Director of the University of Pennsylvania, and the impact he has made on the Penn community and the athletic department has been overwhelming. His success stems from pride for Penn and everything that surrounds it -- quality facilities, excellent coaching staff, talented student-athletes and, of course, Ivy League champions. Bilsky has successfully brought the Penn Athletic Department into the 21st century, and the enthusiasm that has been created for the Penn alumni, coaches and student-athletes has been contagious. A standout guard on Penn's basketball teams from 1969-71, Bilsky is a member of the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame (1988) and the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame (1998).