W. Track wins in first scored meet

Led by sprinter Dawn McGee, Penn had no problem disposing of Princeton and Yale. Last weekend, despite unseasonably cold temperatures and a constant rain, the Penn women's track and field team overcame its first major obstacle of the season. The Quakers convincingly defeated both Princeton and Yale in their first scoring dual meet of the spring at Franklin Field. Although Princeton came in as the favorite on paper, the Quakers dominated the action from the beginning, rolling to a 100-68 victory over Princeton and crushing Yale, 100-13. Penn swept the top five places in the 100-meter dash, four of the top five in the 200, and swept the shot put and the hammer throw. Leading the way for Penn was Dawn McGee. The junior finished second in the 100 behind Quakers co-captain Kelley King. She also placed first in the 100-meter high hurdles and ran the second leg of the winning 4x100 meter relay team. "I haven't had the greatest season so far. [This meet] was definitely the best I've run yet," said McGee. The 4x100 team of Renata Clay, McGee, Shana McDonald-Black and King finished first, avenging the previous weekend's defeat at the hands of the Princeton squad with a time of 48.5 seconds. The foursome, however, continued to struggle with its hand-offs, losing time on the exchange between Clay and McGee. "We're definitely looking to improve on our 4x100. We had to change our steps and it's taking a while to adjust to that," said McGee. "Once our changes come together, the (Penn school) record will go." Despite the impressive victory, the Quakers claim they will not grow overconfident, especially because Princeton was without All-American Nicole Harrison in the sprints. Harrison, who suffers from chronic hamstring problems, withdrew from the 100-meter hurdles and the 100 so as not to risk injury for the upcoming Penn Relays and Eastern Championships. While she did compete in the 4x100, she did so in her warm-up gear. The Quakers, however, have to be pleased with their overall performance. In addition to their most impressive day thus far in the sprints, the Red and Blue continued their season-long trend of placing well in the jumping events. Sophomore Lindsey Anderson won the high jump with a jump of five feet, 1.75 inches, finishing just ahead of fellow Quaker Satsuki Mitchell. Mitchell also jumped 5'1.75", but finished second on the basis of a greater number of attempts. In the long jump, junior Aqiyla Muhammed and freshman Sarah Ryan scored points for Penn, finishing third and fourth with respective jumps of 17' and 16'11". Muhammed also finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 36'08". Freshman stand-out Ruthie Neuhaus led Penn by placing second with a jump of 37'07". Other first place finishers for Penn include junior Jen Roy in the 200, sophomore Mandy Bennett in the shot put, senior Christi Strawley in the hammer, and junior Christi Schelin in the javelin. Stand-out weight thrower Luana Botelho finished second in both the shot put and the discus, failing to re-set one of her Penn records for the first time in three weeks. Botelho and Strawley faced no Tigers or Elis opposition in the hammer competition. With such a resounding victory over the favored Princeton squad, the Quakers appear to be in a good position to make some noise come the Heptagonal Championships. Although the return of Nicole Harrison will certainly change things, Penn has to like its chances.

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