W. Track hoping for good weather

The Penn women's track team is preparing for its second Quaker Invitational of the season like they would for any other meet. Well, almost. The Quakers will be doing their usual workouts in preparation for this Sunday's meet -- with just one addition. The Red and Blue will be crossing their fingers and begging Mother Nature for a little break from the weather. Penn, spoiled by the warm weather down in Raleigh, N.C., last weekend, hopes that the weather gods will keep the sun shining in Philadelphia. "I just hope it doesn't rain," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "We're just want warm weather with no rain." After this weekend, Penn will already be a third of a way through the short outdoor season. There is not much time for the Quakers to work out kinks in this time period, so this weekend Penn hopes to come out ready to perform. "We cannot just use this as a training meet. We're in April now," Tenisci said. "You have to be sharper in April. You want to be able to perform better now." The Quaker Invitational this weekend will be the second within a three-weekend span. Two weekends ago, Penn turned in a stellar performance against a reputable field in their season opener at Franklin Field. The Red and Blue hope to have another successful weekend on their home track -- their last chance to do so before Penn Relays. But this weekend will be no cakewalk. Once again, an impressive collection of teams will gather in West Philadelphia -- including Rutgers, Penn State, Villanova and Delaware State. And, for the first time this outdoor season, Penn will face an Ivy League opponent. The Red and Blue will be keeping a close eye on Cornell, gauging them for an idea of how the rest of their season may turn out. "Cornell is very important to us," Tenisci said. "They are a very good Ivy team and we want to show that we are competitive with them." Due to the presence of a squad from Oxford and Cambridge, Tenisci is also proud to note that this weekend will be an international meet. "The combination of all of these teams is going to add a lot of excitement," Tenisci said. "We have to get out there and do our very best. We just want to be competitive." In order to hang with these competitive teams at Franklin Field, the Quakers will need a team effort. Seniors Bassey Adjah and JaJuan Gair will lead the strong group of Penn sprinters. The Red and Blue will rely heavily on solid performances from their throwing squad, as well -- including Yinka Orafidiya, Monica Maccani, Kai Ivory and Julie Siebert-Johnson. "We're going to have to be sharper technically," Tenisci said. This meet is crucial for the Red and Blue as they hope to improve their times, preview their competition for the rest of the season and take on a few teams they have never faced before. Contingent, of course, on a break from Mother Nature.

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