W. Track safe indoors at Princeton

During this past week, the weather has been the topic of conversation everywhere, ranging from the dining halls to the study lounges. It has also been the major focal point of the Penn women's track team. The wrath of Mother Nature has hampered the regular practice schedule of the Quakers while they prepare for Sunday's Princeton Relays. Penn is one of the few schools that does not have an indoor track. Due to the lack of proper facilities, the Quakers are required to practice outdoors year round. Since the outdoor track is completely iced over, the team has been forced to create irregular training methods. Instead of doing its usual routine of speed and technical work at Franklin Field, Penn has resorted to doing pool workouts, jogging in the Palestra and even running in the parking garage of the Civic Center. Its normal indoor facility, which houses the men's team as well, even became flooded. "We couldn't use the indoor facility because it got flooded," assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "There is no heat in there -- it's like a refrigerator." Tenisci, who calls the entire situation a nightmare, doesn't feel that the lack of practice this week will hamper the team when it competes this weekend. "Our kids have been historically tough under adverse conditions," Tenisci said. "It's tough coming into this situation, we just hope that natural shape will hold up." Senior co-captain Karyn Smith is optimistic as well. "When you don't practice, you tend to have a lot more energy, and it makes your legs feel fresher," Smith said. "You have a lot more strength left in your body. Your legs feel more springy." The Princeton Relays offer a good opportunity for Penn to scout Princeton. This is important because the Quakers will face the Tigers in a dual meet on February 5. Since the head-to-head matchup is one of the more important meets of the season, Penn will pay attention to how its rival performs, and take the emphasis off itself. This too is a result of the poor weather. The Relays offer a new format this year that include a variety of individual events. Initially Penn was going to compete in the open races. Due to the absence of practice time they will just compete in the relay events. "It's the first year of open events, but we went back to relays because we lost valuable practice time," Penn coach Betty Costanza said. "We don't want to put the kids under the extra pressure." A low-key attitude seems to be Penn's main approach. "We have no expectations, we're just hoping it will be a good training session," Tenisci said. "We treat each meet as a practice round, we try to utilize the whole team as much as possible." Tenisci is hoping for a break in the weather. He feels that Penn can only go about a week before the adverse conditions will hurt. He is concerned because the Heptagonals, which are held at Harvard this year, are only a month away. "Right now we're just trying to get our legs underneath us, but we're not close to it yet because of the weather," Tenisci said. "We can't do anything fast, we just hope the weather leaves." Tenisci feels that injuries should not result from the lack of training. Unfortunately for Penn, the icy conditions have taken their toll. Sophomore thrower Jodi Myhre fell on the ice and sprained her ankle. The injury kept her out of last week's Yale Invitational, and will keep her out of the relays on Sunday as well. As the Quakers travel to Princeton on Sunday they will not only be sizing up the Tigers, but they will have the freedom to just go out and compete. They want to prove that neither Princeton nor Mother Nature can beat them.