Penn hopes to use meet toPenn hopes to use meet toqualify athletes for Heps Flashback: the year is 1995, the day is December 9, the place, George Mason. One week after the Penn women's track team's successful opening meet at Navy, the Quakers headed down to Fairfax, Va., to take on some of the best competition on the East coast this Sunday. Surprisingly, many of the Quakers excelled against the stiff opposition both in the field and on the track. For others, just placing in the top 10 at George Mason was a big feat. Two veteran leaders for Penn had sensational performances. Quakers co-captain Angie Jimenez took first place in the pentathlon with 3,675 points, and senior Mary Conway finishing third in the mile with a time of 5 minutes, 16 seconds. Despite several highlights, Quakers coach Betty Costanza felt the main reason for travelling all the way to Virginia was to get a taste of some real competition outside the Ivy League. Costanza and her staff believe racing in Fairfax is a healthy way to improve many Quaker runner's times. This weekend, Penn will again use the George Mason Invitational to help its runners qualifying time's improve for next week's Heptagonal Championships at Dartmouth. "We are hoping [our runners] run hard in order to get them into faster heats at Heps," Costanza said. Unlike the December 9 meet, when all of Penn's top athletes made the trip, Costanza has chosen to take a much smaller squad this time. Experienced runners, like juniors Michelle Belsley and Chrisann Sevoian, as well as sophomores Melanie Cafe and Dawn McGee, will sit out this week to heel nagging injuries. "I feel we have to use this meet for the people that need it and those that need to rest have to rest," Costanza said.
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