Both track teams falter at Heps

Women can't overcome injuries "Oh no, I did it again," cried freshman Daria Smith as she pulled her hamstring. By injuring herself, Smith put Penn's women's track team through an emotional moment that brought out the Quakers unity at the Heptagonal Championships this weekend. As the Quakers went into the meet that would determine the Ivy champion, they knew in order to place in the top four, Smith would have to come to the forefront and turn in yet another excellent performance. Running without sophomore sprinter Jamila Northington as well as Smith, Penn regrouped and turned out a third-place finish in the Ivy League. Northington did not make the trip to Harvard. In her place, Smith, primarily a hurdler, offered to compete in the 55-meter dash. But in the semifinal heat, Smith pulled her right hamstring, and eliminated any chance to place in the dash, or in the sprint hurdles. This was a big blow for two reasons. One, Smith had gone undefeated in the Ivies this season in the hurdles. Second, she was winning the 55 meters when she pulled up hurt. "I got a lot of rest, but it did feel a little tight," Smith said. "It got cramped because it was such a long bus ride. I heated it up and did a long warmup. I still came in second though, I guess I just hopped my way across the line. I must have been going really fast." As she has done all year, senior co-captain Karyn Smith stepped up her performance and turned in a first-place finish in the long jump, and a second in the triple jump. However, her second-place performance in the triple jump represented the first time all year she didn't win the event in the Ivies. "The Army girl jumped out of her mind," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "She beat Karyn by one centimeter. She set a personal record by a foot and a half. Then again, [Karyn] only won by one centimeter in the long jump." Although Karyn Smith was the only Quaker to turn in a first-place finish, there were numerous others who scored for Penn. The jumps, which had been a Quaker specialty all year, kept true to form. Behind Smith, sophomore Monica McCullough and junior Millie Jennings came in third and sixth, respectively, in the long jump, while junior Nicole Maloy finished second in the high jump. Penn's finish was all the more pleasing because aside from the injury, the team was very inexperienced when it came to big meets. The coaches, however, seemed to weigh this aspect more than the athletes. "I really seem to have the same amount of nerves at every meet," Daria Smith said. "But the whole team really came together. We cheered for the guys, and they were cheering for us. We all supported everyone well." The youth movement for the Quakers really kicked in after Smith went down. Freshmen Chrisann Sevoin and Angie Jimenez both flourished by turning in personal records. Sevoin scored twice by coming in fifth in the 55-meter dash, and third in the sprint hurdles where she set her personal best. In addition to setting her personal record in the heptathlon, Jimenez set Penn's school record. The Quakers finally got a chance to get their ears wet by running in a league meet. Going into the meet with few goals they were able to impress the rest of the Ivy League by finishing third. Hopefully for Penn, Tenisci said, this is the beginning of something good. "This year experience, next year expectations," he said.