Heptagonal time has arrived

W. Track needs balanced effort The time has arrived when there are no more "practice" meets and no more chances to put everything together. The Heptagonal Championships have arrived. The Penn women's track team will be at Harvard this weekend to compete in the invitational that will determine the conference champion. After a season that has seen its share of adversity, Penn will have its chance to finally go out and compete in the biggest meet of the year. The Quakers will put the injuries and the weather behind them, and attempt to show the rest of the Ivies they're legitimate contenders. Unlike recent years, there is no clear favorite to win Heps. The field is well balanced with Harvard, Brown, Princeton and Penn. "This is probably the closest it's been in years," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "None of the coaches in the conference can pick a winner. We're all so even, it will depend on luck, health, guts and team effort. Every point will count here, it won't be a walk away for anyone." Penn has a slight upper hand because it holds six of the top seed times. The Quakers are paced by senior co-captain Karyn Smith who will be seeded first in the triple jump and the long jump. Smith is optimistic about Penn's chances in the two events. "Personally, in the triple jump, I think if I compete the way I know I can, I should hopefully win," Smith said. "In the long jump, I think my main competition is going to come from [Penn's] Monica [McCullough] and Millie [Jennings]." Although the Quakers have a stranglehold on the jumps because junior Nicole Maloy is the top seed in the high jump, there is still a sense of cautious optimism. In the technical events, there is always the chance of having bad timing, and consequently faulting. "You make the errors, you pay the price, you pay dearly," Tenisci said. "Ideally, no one has come near Karyn in the triple jump, or in the long jump besides Monica. She's a solid top seed, anything can happen." Besides the jumps, the Quakers have top seeds in the heptathlon, 55-meter dash and the sprint hurdles. Freshman Daria Smith, one of the east's premier hurdlers, has gone undefeated against Ivy competition this season. Even though Penn has many of the Ivy's top individual performers, Tenisci knows to win the Quakers will need a stellar team performance. Individuals win events, but the team wins the conference. He hopes this meet will show the rest of the Ivies how far this young team has come. "This has been the most talented team I've been on," Karyn Smith said. "The Ivy championship is something I want, and I really hope it's something we want together." This week the team has been touching up on approaches, starts and run-throughs as it comes off of Saturday's George Mason Invitational. At the meet, juniors Caitlin Riley and Jenee Anzelone set personal records in the half mile. Maloy and Daria Smith each placed second in their events against top Division I schools. With a seasoned veteran leading a young and improving team, Penn feels it has an excellent chance to defeat a well-balanced field and win Heps for the first time since 1988. "I think our team will be formidable," Tenisci said. "We'll be ready to do some damage."