Women not at full strength

It's make-it or break-it time for the Penn women's cross country team The Quakers venture into Van Cortland Park in the Bronx today for their chance at bragging rights in the Ivies. Once a year, all eight Ivies along with Army and Navy come together to compete in the all-important Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. The Quakers have battled injuries all year and today will be no different. Even though junior Tracie Johnson, the leading runner last year, has been out all year, Penn has come together as a team. However, this past week, junior Jane Kim turned her ankle doing mile repeats and subsequently slightly tore one of the muscles in her leg. The doctors did an MRI and put Kim's leg in a cast. The Quakers hope that the cortisone shot will stabilize the tear. But, Kim has battled adversity all year and is confident that she will run. "It's not going to bother me during the race," Kim said. "I can't do anything about it. I'm going to run. It won't be a problem." "The decision is [Kim's] as to what she wants to do,"Quaker assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "It's a little bit of a heartache for us at this point. Hopefully, we'll be able to overcome this." Junior Maggie Morrow has also been bothered with a hip pointer, but she will definitely be running. Morrow has been the leader all year and has done a spectacular job. "[Morrow] is the leader out there," Tenisci said. "She's our captain. She's been our number one runner most of the year. She's the one who is going to be the vanguard here." Penn has not raced in two weeks and has used the time to mentally prepare for today's meet. They haven't practiced for the last couple days and believe they're ready to go. "This is what we've looked toward all season," junior Bridget Ward said. "We're very prepared for it." "It was a rest period," Tenisci said of the off time. "We've been in a full taper since last week. The kids are feeling good and they're ready to go. Once you have a nice break like this, you feel good, you're anxious to race again. Your legs are there for you. We're hoping that everything will come together. But it's really wherever the chips fall." Nationally-ranked Cornell is the overwhelming favorite and is looking to make it three Heps championships in a row. Senior Pam Hunt is looking to become the first individual since Harvard's Kate Wiley (1982-84) to collect three straight titles. After the Big Red the field is relatively wide open, with Dartmouth, Navy and Harvard as the best of the rest. "I think it's going to be pretty tough," Ward said. "All the teams at Heps have been running really well. They all have really tight packs like we do. It's just a matter of whose pack has it together." "We all have to be on," junior Jenee Anzelone said. "I mean it's really tight, we could come anywhere between third and seventh. There aren't a lot of superstars in the league, but the teams are so close." Most of the teams have a solid first two runners, but the championship ultimately rides on the backs of the next three finishers for each school. In Penn's case, this is junior Caitlin Riley, Anzelone, sophomore Mary Conway and sophomore Melanie Gesker. "Anything can happen in the back," Tenisci said. "It falls on the other girls now and whoever wants to do it. It can be anyone, it can be Caitlin, Jenee, Mary, Melanie. Three, four and five govern the outcome of the race. We all have top runners. All the racing and championship will fall on the back of the pack. That's the reality of it all." The Quakers are a close-knit young team and have worked tremendously hard all year. Today they are confident that they will make a strong showing and improve on last year's sixth-place finish. "We've come this far," Kim said. "It's given that we're going to do well for the Heps. Everybody rises for the occasion."