Tigers sprint past M. Track

The Penn and Princeton men's indoor track teams met Saturday at Princeton in a meet filled with tension. The two rivals battled throughout, but in the end Princeton prevailed, 74-62. "They are the defending Ivy champs, and they showed that they are a great team," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. The Quakers, who were not at full strength, could not match the Tigers' depth. Senior captain Kelsey Armstrong and sophomore sprinter and jumper Jon Yu did not compete due to leg injuries. The Quakers also did not receive enough top performances in a meet in which everyone had to be perfect for them to win. "We're at a point right now where we cannot beat a team as strong as Princeton with anything less than every athlete doing his best," assistant coach Nathan Taylor said. "We had no room for error, and we made some mental mistakes." Although some Quakers produced at a top level on Saturday, many team members did not perform up to expectations. "Some members need to do some self-assessment," Powell said. "Some members need to step up." Due to several individuals who did step up, the Quakers kept the meet close. Junior captain Chris Harper, who ran at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden Friday, came back to contribute two wins Saturday. Twice he was able to out-sprint Princeton's all-American Andy Collins. Harper won the 400-meter sprint with a time of 49.26 seconds and was the anchor on the Penn 4X400 team that won by .25 seconds. In the jumps, Penn had two new IC4A qualifiers. Sophomore Okinyi Ayungo finished second in the triple jump and set a personal mark by more than two feet, jumping 47 feet, 10 inches. Perhaps the most promising results of the meet for Penn were in the middle distance events, which are the Tigers' strength. The Quakers were able to come through with two wins, thanks to the performances of their younger runners. "We proved that we are a force in the middle distance," Powell said. "The only difference between us and Princeton is that our guys are younger." Powell is not ready to start thinking about beating Princeton outdoors. He believes he should have no trouble getting his team psyched up to defeat the Tigers at Heps at the end of the month. "We will either win it or fall on our faces trying," Powell said.