Track teams host Pennsylvania Invite

Men expect to dominate weak field Last weekend the Penn men's track team dominated a weak field of teams at the Penn Invitational. Sunday the scenario should repeat itself when Penn hosts the Quaker Invitational. Once again, the talent level of the other teams can not match Penn's. The top challenger will be Cornell, a mid-level team in the Ivy League. For the past few years the Quakers have had a difficult time attracting top teams to their meets, with the exception of Penn Relays. One cause is that big-money programs such as Georgetown and Syracuse travel south each weekend. In many ways, though, the Quakers have been victims of their own success. Penn used to draw teams from the Big East and other large conferences to their meets. But the other teams would often leave Franklin Field with a defeat -- sometimes an embarrassing blowout loss. "The teams did not want to have to go home and explain to their constituents how they lost to a team with no scholarship athletes," Penn assistant coach Nathan Taylor said. The Quakers are left with fields that feature good teams but not great ones. Most events include one or two very good athletes beside those from Penn. There is no guarantee all events will be competitive. Last week Penn claimed most of the top spots in all of the field events. The pole vault should be an exception this week. Penn's Greg Schroeder should have his hands full with three competitors capable of going over 16 feet. The Quakers will also be resting a lot of their top athletes due to various injuries, including sprinter Clive Brown, jumpers Okinyi Ayungo and Randy Simmons, and distance runners Joe Hall and Neil Riordan. For those competing, the meet serves as another chance to get experience before Penn moves into the difficult part of its schedule. "I hope that every athlete will lay it on the line as if it was a championship," Taylor said. "You only have so many opportunities to qualify for Heptagonals and IC4As during the year." While the rest of the team is at Franklin Field, two Quakers will have the opportunity to face some of the top competition in the country. Senior throwers Clarence Hinton and John Taylor are traveling to the Sea Ray Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn, where 10 of the top 15 throwers in each event nationally will be competing. Hinton will be competing in the discus, an event in which he has already qualified for NCAAs. He is capable of gaining a place in the national rankings with a strong throw. Taylor is returning to competition after taking last week off while recovering from a groin pull, sprained ankle and bronchitis. He is currently No. 6 in the country in the javelin and is hoping to have a good performance in Knoxville, the site of the NCAAs later in the year. "The competition will bring my level of ability up another notch," Taylor said. "It is always good to go up against the guys you will see later in the year." One consequence of Hinton and Taylor competing in Tennessee is the Quakers' other throwers will have a chance to win their events at the Quaker Invitational. If they do, though, they almost certainly will not be the only ones to contribute to Penn's domination Sunday.