W. Track 'warriors' overcome blizzard

Miles Cohen Miles Cohen The Daily Pennsylvanian Old Mother Nature tried to step in in and freeze the Quakers' pre-break momentum. But like true warriors, Penn -- the only Ivy league school without an indoor track -- found ways to continue to practice as three feet of snow piled up on the Franklin Field track. "With the weather conditions, practicing was really tough," assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "Our middle distance and distance kids were in the pool the whole time doing long workouts. The sprinters did strides and stretched and whatever else they could do in our indoor facility. And the throwers and jumpers fared much better, but it was pretty chaotic for us during this storm." Even with the absence of an indoor track, the Quakers remained positive and turned in a solid performance. While the sprinters ran well, "it was in the events from the quarter on up where you could see we just were not sharp, and that was simply because we haven't been able to run," coach Betty Costanza said. Both coaches believed that poor practice facilities should be blamed for any disappointing times. "I felt that overall we had a very successful weekend, and we were pleased with everyone's times," Costanza said. "The kids weren't, but we definitely were." Mary Conway and Michelle Belsley could not have been too unhappy. Conway's time of 10 minutes, 49 seconds in the 3,000 meter distance event was good enough for first, as was Belsley's time of 5:02 in the mile. Costanza explained that many members of the team were still disappointed with their performances. "They would like to have run as well as when we left for break," she said. The most impressive showing of the weekend for Penn occurred in the pentathlon, where the Quakers took four out of the top five spots, with co-captain Angie Jeminez coming in first. "My first place finish was not great, but it was good enough to win," Jeminez said. In the absence of Penn hurdle star Daria Smith, who suffered a knee injury at the George Mason, sophomore Dawn McGee placed third in the 55 meter hurdles for the Quakers. Other sophomore standouts at Yale included Melanie Cafe and Tiffany Archer. Cafe finished third in the 800 meters, while Archer placed second in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 6 inches. Penn -- if it hasn't already -- is quickly becoming recognized as one of the Ivy Leagues up-and-coming teams. The freshmen, in particular, have proved they are for real. Kim Mason took second in the long jump, and Aquiyla Muhammad placed third in the triple jump. According to Costanza, the freshmen have taken their talent and run with it. "They are very motivated and goal oriented," Costanza said. After demonstrating an iron will under icy conditions, the team will look to duplicate its pre-blizzard success when it travels to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Cornell Invitational.