W. X-Country tries to repeat

The Penn women's cross country team will try to prove lightning can strike the same place twice tomorrow. The Quakers will be returning to Lehigh, the sight of their best meet this year, the Paul Short Invitational two weeks ago. But whereas the Paul Short was the most competitive meet so far this year, this weekend's meet against Lehigh and Rutgers will most likely be the easiest. Penn coach Betty Costanza was concerned going into the Paul Short that the team was just too slow to be competitive in the big meets. But her fear was dismissed as seniors Maggie Morrow and Jenee Anzelone and sophomore Michelle Belsley all cracked the 19-minute barrier on the five-kilometer course. Morrow's time of 18 minutes, 29.6 seconds was good for 18th overall. Anzelone (18:36.5) and Belsley (18:44.8) both placed in the top 30. The Lehigh-Rutgers meet will be the final tuneup before the postseason begins. Penn should not have any trouble with either the Scarlet Knights or the Engineers. At the Sept. 16 four-way meet at Princeton, the Red and Blue, despite running its worst meet of the year, soundly beat Rutgers by an overall score of 40-81. At the Paul Short Invitational, Lehigh was unable to profit from its home-field advantage, finishing in 17th place with 488 points. The Engineers were dusted by the Quaker runners, who finished 10 places and 103 points ahead of them. Penn had seven runners in by the time Lehigh's second runner crossed the finish line. Look for Morrow, Anzelone and Belsley to repeat their strong times. Morrow will enter the meet as the overwhelming favorite to take the overall individual title. Anzelone and Belsley should also finish in the top five. With strong performances from seniors Jane Kim, Bridget Ward and Caitlin Riley, Penn could break the 30-point mark, leaving Lehigh and Rutgers fighting it out for second place. The Quakers' success will be measured in seconds, not points. In a meet, such as tomorrow's, where victory is expected, there is always the fear of an upset. But with the Heptagonal Championships and the crowning of the Ivy League champion just one week away, it is doubtful any Quaker will let up. Everyone is looking for one more strong race before the big one.