M. Track's Burley qualifies for NCAAs

The Penn men's track team was looking for a little tune-up before Heptagonal Championships on February 24-25. They found it at the Penn State Collegiate in State College, Pa., last Friday and Saturday. Despite finishing eighth in a field of 11, head coach Charlie Powell was not disappointed. "We were taking it easier," Powell said. "For most of these teams it was a dress rehearsal for Big Ten Champs." The meet, which was won by the third-ranked Nittany Lions, did have several bright spots for the Quakers. Penn sophomore Sam Burley continued his amazing season with a time of 1:49.35 in the 800. It was the same time as Illinois' Jason VanSwol, but Burley finished second in a photo finish. Burley did, however, qualify for the NCAA National Indoor Track Championships and also set a facility record in the 800 along with VanSwol. "I know what Sam can do," Powell said. "But he amazes me sometimes." Penn junior Tuan Wreh turned in another good performance, finishing third in the triple jump with a leap of 49'01.50". Wreh also finished ninth in the long jump with a leap of 22'11". "Tuan had some good looking jumps," Powell said. "He's ready for a big jump soon." Powell added that Wreh almost had that big jump this weekend, as he had a triple jump well over 52 feet in which he barely fouled. Other strong performances by the Red and Blue were turned in by Mike Aguilar, who finished sixth in the 60 yard dash, and by Bryan Kovalzky, who finished seventh in the 3,000 with a time of 8:23.82. The Quakers 4x400 meter relay team turned in a strong fifth place finish and Wes Gray finished eighth in the pole vault with a height of 14'9". Powell was enthusiastic with the Quakers' performance. "Not everything went right," Powell said. "But we know why they didn't go right, and we can fix them." The Quakers have this weekend off before travelling to Boston for Heps the following weekend. "The ball seems to be in Princeton's court for Heps," Powell said. "But we're going to put up the best fight we possibly can."

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