Freshmen shine brightly for Men

The Penn men's track team competed at Navy and Lafayette this weekend in its first meets of the indoor season. The Quakers, coming off a tremendously successful outdoor season last spring, wanted to use these meets to get a feeling of where they stand for the rest of the season. Penn received top performances from some of its veterans, but previously untested freshmen turned in key performances and were the surprise of the meet for Penn. The Navy Invitational, held on Friday in Annapolis, Md., was an unscored meet with 15 other teams. Penn was competitive in every event and dominant in a few. "The meet showed we have a good freshman class and a lot of good returning athletes," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "We are a deeper team than we were last year." Greg Davis, the 1994 indoor Heps 55-meter champion, finished first in that event with a time of 6.40 seconds, which qualified him for the IC4As at the end of the season. Senior Henry Addo also qualified for the IC4As with a third-place overall finish in the event, finishing in 6.44 seconds. Junior Carl Eklof got off to a solid start, placing first in the 55-meter hurdles with an IC4A-qualifying time of 7.70 seconds. Freshman Dan Nord looked impressive in his first collegiate meet with a third-place finish. The Quakers had a good showing in the triple jump, capturing the top four spots. The top three men qualified for the IC4As, including the champion, Stanley Anderson, who was the biggest surprise of the meet. The freshman placed fourth on Penn's all-time list with his winning jump of 49-6 1/2. Anderson, in his first collegiate meet, qualified for both the IC4As and the junior nationals. "We have a lot of talented freshmen, including Stanley. He will challenge the league's best," Powell said. "He placed fourth all-time at Penn in his first meet. With freshmen stepping up like that, I think we are a better team than last year," fellow triple jumper Okinyi Ayungo said. Sophomore Dave Davenport finished second with a jump of 48 feet, 7.25 inches. Ayungo finished third at 47-5.25. Freshman Dan Nord rounded out the top four at 45-7. Penn also had a strong showing in the 4x400 relay. Davis, Stiffler, Primerano and Martin qualified for the IC4As with a time of 3:21.09. Chris Osentowski also qualified for the IC4As in shotput with a throw of 49-8.5. Saturday the Quakers who did not participate at Navy traveled to Easton, Pa., for the Lafayette Invitational. Penn finished fifth in the eight team field. The Quakers had three top finishers. Senior co-captain Greg Schroeder pole-vaulted 15 feet, besting the second place finisher by 1.5 feet. Sophomore Eric Hyde won the high jump with a mark of 6-6. Freshman J.P. Pollak won the triple jump. The Quakers will have off until Jan. 13, when they compete at Navy along with N.C. State in one of the most important meets of the season. This weekend's performance bodes well for the Quakers on their quest for the Heptagonal title.