Men's Track Excels at IC4A Championships

After winning Penn's first outdoor Heptagonal Championship in fifteen years, men's track continued its success at the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships (IC4A) last week in Fairfax, Va. The Quakers scored 41 points to tie for eighth place in a field of over 50 teams. It was Penn's best finish since 1982. "It was great to finally show the rest of the teams in the East what we're capable of," sprinter Kelsey Armstrong said. "We always knew we had the potential and it was about time we let everyone else know too." Penn was once again paced by strong performances in the field events. Leading the way were throwers John Taylor and Clarence Hinton, who together accounted for nearly half of Penn's point total. Recent graduate and two-time All-American Taylor, who placed second in the College Men's Javelin Throw Championship at this year's Penn Relay Carnival, continued his dominance by capturing the IC4A javelin title with a throw of 72.48m (237 ft, 9 in). After an injury-plagued season, Taylor seems to be peaking at the right time. He will compete at the NCAA Track and Field Championships this weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee. Clarence Hinton racked up eight points for the Red and Blue in the discus event with a mark of 51.68m(169 ft, 7 inches). Although his throw was nearly 15 feet shorter than the school record he set last year, it was good enough to give him second place. The senior also placed 11th in the hammer throw. Jumpers Dave Davenport and Dave Rechtweg also came through for Penn on the field. Rechtweg, a senior, took fifth in the high jump with an effort of 2.06m(6ft, 9 inches). Sophomore Davenport, jumped a personal best of 14.98m(49ft 1.75 in) to place seventh in the triple jump his first IC4A championships. Senior pole vaulter Greg Schroeder also performed impressively, clearing a height of 16ft, 2.75 inches to take fifth place. Penn's sprinters did not disappoint either. Senior Chris Harper, who claimed four first place finishes at last week's Heptaganols, placed sixth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 47.73. Harper then joined recent graduate Kelsey Armstrong, senior Clive Brown, and sophomore Mike Stiffler to capture fourth place in the 4x 400 meter event. Penn nicked a hundredth of a second off the previous school record by clocking in at 3:09.45 seconds. This accomplishment was especially sweet to Armstrong. "We've been going for the 4x 400 record for a while," Armstrong said. We've been right around it for a while. Chris, Clive and I have been motivated to break this record for about three years now. It was about time." The only disappointment of the meet was the failure of the 4 x 100 team to qualify for the finals. The Quakers had the ninth fastest time. The top eight qualify for the finals. "It was just bad luck," Armstrong said. "We missed by a hundredth of a second–and I really think we were one of the top eight teams." Overall, Penn was one of the eight top teams. And with seven non-graduating athletes earning All-Eastern honors as a result of their performances at this meet, the future looks promising.