Personal goals reached in easy win over Garnet

As freshman Mark Spenner stood on the starting block, waiting for the start of the 50-yard freestyle, chants of "Spenner! Spenner!" could be heard from the crowd. The rookie from Eagle, Idaho had never won a race in his collegiate career. But with the Penn men's swimming team taking on Division III Swarthmore, Spenner saw an opportunity to get his first victory. When the starter's buzzer sounded, it was Penn sophomore Bobby Brown who jumped to the front of the field. But Spenner overpowered Brown in the final 25 yards to win the race in 23.20 seconds. "I really reeled in Bobby Brown," Spenner joked. "He had me at the 25." After pulling himself out of the pool, Spenner walked alongside the Quakers bench, accepting congratulations from his teammates. A small group of fans started the "Spenner!" chant again. Spenner was one of a group of hungry underclassmen that led Penn (3-5) to a 117-79 thrashing of the Garnet last night at Sheerr Pool. Swarthmore was never in the meet. Penn took first and second places in the 400 medley relay to open the meet. The Quakers didn't field a swimmer in the 1,000 freestyle, allowing the Garnet to get some points. But the Quakers then finished 1-2-3 in the next four events to put the meet out of reach. But crushing Swarthmore wasn't really Penn's goal. The Quakers knew they would come away with a win. So their focus turned to improving on personal bests and trying some new events. "It's more like a friendly rivalry," Spenner said. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than most meets. The swimmers were joking around on the bench and chatting with the fans. "Do you want to swim the 500 for me?" sophomore Jim Holleran asked a spectator. "I'll give you my suit. It'll be funny." The meet also gave Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert the opportunity to test her swimmers in their off races. Sophomore Jeff Brown, a freestyle specialist, competed in the 100 butterfly. He did finish third, but it was only the second time all season he did not win his race. But nobody really seemed to care on the Quakers bench because he was beaten by two teammates -- sophomore Ken Fletcher and senior Bryan Thornton. If Lawlor-Gilbert hadn't conceded the final few events, one can only imagine how lopsided the final score would have been.