Track teams must shine this vacation

Women travel to ECACs in New Haven For the majority of the Penn women's track members, the time has come where they have a few weeks off to recuperate from the indoor season and can start to mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming outdoor season. For a select four Quakers, however, there is still one meet to go. The ECAC Championships are being held at Yale this weekend. This invitational features the East Coast's premier track athletes. Penn will be represented by senior co-captain Karyn Smith, juniors Nicole Maloy and Caitlin Riley, and freshman Angie Jimenez. This meet is the step before nationals, which will be held next weekend in Indianapolis. This meet is open to those who have qualified during the season. It offers the athletes a chance to compete against the best on an individual basis. "It's very hard to come back for a second meet and get psyched," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "The kids who choose to do it, do it to improve themselves in their personal events." Jimenez will be competing in the pentathlon. She has excelled in the multi-events all season, and set Penn's school record in the event at the Heptagonal Championships last weekend. That milestone represented the second time this season she set the mark. She had broken it earlier in the year at the Yale Invitational. Along with representing Penn at one of the nation's most prestigious meets, Jimenez will be gaining valuable experience. "It feels good to go to [ECACs]," Jimenez said. "I think in terms of competition, I will be seeing these people I've heard about all year. There are a few girls I've heard about, like one who set a national indoor record who I've already competed against. It inspires you, it puts a spark under you." This meet also represents a homecoming for Jimenez. Hailing from Connecticut, she wants to do well. She's familiar with the facility because she had competed there at national meets when she was in high school. She will not only be competing against elite competition, however, she will also be up against tough physical conditions. It is unusual for an athlete to compete in two multi-events in a month, let alone in consecutive weeks. But since it is the end of the season, there is little choice. To cope, Jimenez has trained lightly throughout the week. Contrastly, instead of using ECACs to gain experience, Smith will be using her experience as she competes in the final indoor meet of her collegiate career. Smith will be competing in the triple jump, an event which she has fared well in all season. She has gone undefeated in the event all year, with the exception of last week. Throughout the season, Smith has been competing on a national level in the triple jump. She represents the Quakers' best opportunity to send someone to Indianapolis, Tenisci said. In the 1,000 meters, Riley will be a formidable opponent. At the George Mason Invitational two weeks ago, she set a personal record in one the nation's toughest regular-season meets in the half mile. Finally, Maloy is perhaps Penn's hottest jumper. In the last two meets, which have been the toughest of the year, she stepped up to come in second both times. And the week before at the Cornell Relays she set both a personal best and Penn's school record by an inch. After a season of missing practices due to inclement weather, the women's track team's version of the Final Four gets one last chance to show what its fought for. "You've got to give it to them," Tenisci said. "They've been slopped around all year. It's a real tribute to the kids."