W. X-Country falls at Heps

The script was written. It was proofread and spell-checked and ready for the press. Penn women's cross country team wins Ivy League championship read the first page. It was a script senior Maggie Morrow had been writing in her mind since her freshman year in 1991 -- one year after Penn's last Ivy League title. The story should have climaxed at Friday's Heptagonal Championships, Morrow's last, where the team captain would finally get the crown that has alluded her. But life does not always imitate art. For Morrow and the Quakers, reality bites. The team traveled to New York's Van Cortlandt Park with title aspirations. But it could do no better than seventh place in the nine-team field, which is comprised of the Ivies plus Navy. The meet was one of the most exciting in years, with the top three teams separated by only six points. The title came down to the fifth and final runners from Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell. With four runners already finished from each squad, the score stood Dartmouth 28, Cornell 28, Brown 36. Dartmouth's Deidre Milligan finished 18th, good enough to clinch the Big Green championship. Brown ended up with 51 points, four behind Dartmouth. Cornell placed third with 52 points, led by the first-place finish of Laura Woeller (18 minutes, 14 seconds). Rounding out the standings were Navy 115; Harvard 118; Princeton 135; Penn 152; Yale 200; and Columbia 268. Penn was not the only team to fall short of its expectations. Princeton, a preseason favorite to take the crown, could do no better than sixth place. For the Quakers, Morrow finished a disappointing 20th in 19:15. Sophomore Michelle Belsley, who sat out last weekend due to illness, finished in 19:30, almost a minute slower than her season best. Senior Jenee Anzelone, expected to finish in the Quakers top three, was only the fifth Penn runner to finish, doing so in 19:47. "We definitely didn't show our ability," Belsley said. The Quakers did stick in their pack, something they thought would propel them to the top of the standings. "As a team, we actually worked together well," Belsley said. But meets are not scored for teamwork alone. And Penn just did not have the fast times necessary to compete. "It was disappointing," Belsley said. "But for the underclassmen, we still have next year." That's a luxury Morrow, Anzelone & Co. don't have.