Cornell gives Penn trouble

It was a training meet from the start forIt was a training meet from the start forW. Track as it prepares for Heptagonals Two weeks ago, the last event at the Penn-Princeton dual meet -- the high jump -- brought a certain electricity that filled Jadwin Gym. The Penn women's track team cheered on teammate Tiffany Archer as she attempted the highest high jump in the history of the Penn-Princeton indoor dual meet. With the team behind her, Archer smoothly sailed over the 5 foot, 6 inch bar and, in her last attempt, came very close to clearing the record-breaking height of 5'8", but fell short. This past Saturday at Barton Hall at Cornell, the same intensity existed when Penn lined up against Cornell, Toronto, Waterloo and Guelph. Towards the end of Penn's 115-65 loss to the Big Red, the Quakers gathered behind the throwing cage and shouted words of encouragement to freshman shot putter Luana Botelho. Botelho entered the final round in third place. Botelho's second throw propelled her into the lead. But Cornell's Chris Kervaski let loose a toss of 40'8 3/4" -- edging Botelho by less than an inch. With one toss remaining, Botelho stepped back into the cage. "I just blocked out the noise and concentrated on the distance I needed to throw," Botelho said. Botelho's put edged Kervaski by 1 1/2 inches, giving her the victory. Penn freshman shot putter Mandy Bennett broke the 39-foot barrier for the first time this season with a toss of 39'11". "Everyone is around the cage, and the contest is very close, and they are yelling at the top of their lungs," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "The Cornell people are really into the yelling. Soon their whole team was around yelling for them, and it is very hard to keep your poise in that sort of mayhem. But our two freshmen responded really well." In the 20-pound weight event, Soley was disappointed with her toss of 45'2", even though it was good for second place. Kervaski won the event with a throw of 51'8". "The distance was not that bad, but my form was not there at all," Soley said. "The intensity wasn't there, and it was a real letdown. For me, the disappointing thing was that [Kervaski] for Cornell is my main competition right now, and this is more or less what [the Heptagonal Championships] is going to be like." Despite the lopsided final score, Penn coach Betty Costanza focused on the Quakers' pre-meet goal. "The purpose of this meet for us was to do as much running as we could, and we did do that," Costanza said. "Some of the kids had tough doubles, like Adria [Ferguson] who had to run the 500-meter race, then come down to the 200 meters and then up to the 400 meters." With most of the Penn runners competing in three or four events, the outcome at Cornell was expected. Even though the score indicated a brutal lose for the Red and Blue, it was performances, like Ferguson's, which made the trip worth it. Ferguson's highlights included a first-place finish in the 500 and also anchored the Penn's second-place 4x400 relay team. Quakers co-captain Angie Jimenez had an outstanding day, as well, with a first-place leap of 18'4" in the long jump and a fifth-place finish in the shot put. "Coach wanted everybody to go up there and get a good work out in," Jimenez said. "Most people did more events than they normally do." According to Jimenez, the Cornell meet was a tune-up for Heps. "While there was competition at Cornell this weekend, we looked at this as a kind of training meet for us," Jimenez said. "I think we have a legitimate shot at winning Heps. I don't think there is any front runner in the Ivy League right now." Back on the track, distance runner Melanie Gesker had another consistent meet, excelling in an event she had yet to compete in this year -- the mile run. Gesker, who is usually accustomed to racing longer events, remained skeptical about her second-place finish in the mile. "Kristen [Duyck], Rita [Garber], and I all ran the mile to get in a little speed work," Gesker said. "I was hoping to run faster, but we have been doing more pace work than speed work in practice. I went out OK the first half mile. And then I was kind of feeling it in the second half, and I didn't do as well as I would have liked." Overall, Gesker felt the Cornell Invitational was another inspiring meet in the long tiring indoor-track season. "I think a lot of people are a little tired from the traveling we have done this season" Gesker said. "Some people were a little bit flat. But for the most part, we had some nice performances, and we had a decent meet."