W. X-Country goes downhill

It's difficult to label this year's Penn women's cross country team. One week it will amaze you with brilliant performances, and the next meet collapse, looking like a team lacking experience -- something the Quakers are not. At Saturday's Lehigh Invitational, Penn looked more like the latter. This time, the Quakers actually were lacking leadership. In what was its final tune-up before Friday's Heptagonal Championships, which will decide the Ivy League champion, the team had to make due without its top two runners. Sophomore Michelle Belsley, who has been sick for the past few days, sat out the race. Senior Maggie Morrow had to drop out in the middle of the race due to a hip problem. With Belsley playing the role of cheerleader, and Morrow sidelined, the Quakers could hardly expect a strong team result. So nobody was terribly surprised when SUNY-Cortland, SUNY-Geneseo and Moravian finished 1-2-3, leaving Penn and Rutgers at the back of the pack. But the Quakers did get a number of promising performances that, coupled with the returns of Morrow and Belsley, could bode well for Penn's title hopes. Senior Caitlin Riley, who has been an enigma all year, put together her strongest race since the Sept. 16 meet at Princeton. Her time of 19 minutes, 24 seconds put her in 17th place. Freshman Christine Stavalone hit a milestone in her short collegiate career, cracking the 20-minute mark for the first time at 19:50. But leading the Red and Blue was junior Melanie Gesker, who took 12th place at 19:12. Gesker has quietly put up strong times all year, including her previous best of 19:17 at the Paul Short Invitational and a 19:27 at the Boston College Invitational. Gesker didn't seem to be burdened by the responsibility of having to compensate for her ailing teammates. "There was no pressure," Gesker said. But this relaxed atmosphere may have been a problem, as some Penn runners seemed to sleepwalk through the race. After her impressive 18:36.5 at the Paul Short Invitational two weeks ago, senior Jenee Anzelone slipped to a 19:42 finish on the same course. Fellow senior Jane Kim also took a step backward after impressive races at Boston College, where she was the top Penn runner, and the Paul Short. Her mark of 19:45 is a cause for concern with only four practices remaining. "It was hard to stay focused," Gesker confessed.