Penn X-Country gears up for Heps

Men are healthy for 1st time The endless miles, the shin splints and the bitter defeats won't matter today. At one o'clock this afternoon, the Penn men's cross country team will be seeking to gain the Ivy crown at the Heptagonals in Van Cortlandt Park in New York. All the meets in preparation are behind them and the Quakers are about to engage in one of the most difficult and important tests of the season. After missing the title last year by a mere nine points (good for third place), Penn is rested and ready to take on its Ivy League foes. The Ancient Eight plus Navy will be racing in today's meet. Because it switched into the Patriot League this year, strong contender Army will be missing. Penn has already competed against four of the nine teams this season. The early meets were marked by defeat as Penn lost to Navy 24 to 32 and to Princeton 20 to 41 five weeks ago at Manhattan College. However, on October 9 the Quakers were nine places ahead of Princeton and 10 places in front of Yale to finish as the top Ivy school at the competitive Paul Short Invitational. At last week's Albany Invitational, Penn defeated top squad Dartmouth, but several of the Big Green's top racers were not competing. Although Penn has been experiencing an upward trend of late, the winner of this year's Heps title is still too close to call. Although Dartmouth and Cornell are portrayed as the frontrunners with several nationally-ranked runners competing today, Penn coach Charlie Powell expressed both disbelief and relief concerning the predictions. "Any one of the schools could win," Powell said. "It's been the kind of season where no one team has really stood out. Many teams look good on paper, but that doesn't mean anything. The pressure is off us and that is good." According to Powell, Penn's primary advantage will be the solidarity that the squad has developed this season with the continued leadership of junior co-captains Joe Hall and Terry McLean. "If we run as strong as we did at Paul Short, we'll do quite well," Powell said. "Our number three, four, five and six guys ran very well then and we have very good confidence in Joe and Terry. When a team thinks of itself more as a team than a bunch of individuals, it's always a good thing." Powell also has confidence that this will outweigh some of the team's disadvantages. "We are not scared," Powell said. "People can't say 'Oh my God, those guys are good.' Nobody is scared of us. We are still inexperienced, and that could rear its ugly head – but I don't think it will." Penn will be counting on Hall and McLean to give the kind of performance they gave last year at Heps, when they both set personal records. Sophomores Kurt Sprowls and Jack McMullan and junior Alvarez Symonette are expected to be at the forefront as well coming off top performances at Paul Short and Albany. For the last week, the team has been taking it easy in practice so there should be no tired legs. In addition, there are no reported injuries and everyone seems to be in good health going into the race – for the first time this season. "As of yesterday, everyone is in fantastic shape," Powell said. "The biggest goal is for everyone to run a personal best – to reach down and give it everything they have. From there we'll just let the chips fall where they may. If we run our best and get beat, then we'll be the first to congratulate the winners." One concern heading into the race will be the condition of the Van Cortlandt course. The five-mile course, which has been around since the early 1900's, has considerable erosion and many protruding rocks and sticks which may provide some additional challenges. Runners will need to be concerned about the tripping, falling and breaking of bones associated with the course which is rougher than most. With heavy rains on Tuesday, maintenance efforts may have been in vain. "We won't know how bad it is until we get there," Powell said. "Last time it was pretty chewed up, but Van Cortlandt is Van Cortlandt – it's the standard other courses are compared to." The Quakers ran the course last on September 24, so it should be fresh in their minds. Hall and McLean, who have run the course countless times in their college careers have already decided their strategies. "I am already thinking of how I want to race at Heps," McLean said. "Hopefully I'll be up there. Everything depends on the hills. When you surge on other runners, its harder to cover on this course." Powell would not reveal the team's overall strategy, but he pointed out that a team effort would be essential and he is confident that all his runners will support it. "It's just one of those meets we point to in the year," Powell said. "Most of the guys don't realize how important it is or what it means until after its over." Today, they'll be making memories.