Relay team primed for Invite

W. Track 4x100 teamW. Track 4x100 teamhas shaved time byW. Track 4x100 teamhas shaved time bypracticing exchange By 4:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Penn coach Betty Costanza had ended the day's practice and gone home. But an hour later, Quakers captain Kelley King and the other three members of the 4x100 relay team were still on the track practicing passing the baton. "We have an interesting group of women," Costanza said. "They have put a lot on the line given a lot of adversity." Tomorrow, the Red and Blue will compete in the Quaker Invitational at Franklin Field. The meet will follow the same unscored format as last Sunday's Penn Invitational. The Quaker Invitational features national-powerhouse Temple, as well as St. Joseph's, Rhode Island, Delaware and Ivy League rival Princeton. A week ago, the Quakers struggled in the 4x100. Costanza attributed the subpar performance to a lack of practice time, since the spring season opened just days after the indoor season came to a close with Penn's upset victory in the indoor Heptagonal Championships. The relay teams practiced overtime this week to compensate, focusing on passing the baton without slowing down. Last Sunday, the recipient of the baton was not taking a running start. That caused each runner to slow down at the end of her leg and added several seconds to the Quakers' overall time. Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci has spent the past week teaching the relay team to take a running start before the baton is passed, allowing for a quicker and smoother passing. The new approach has taken seconds off of the relay team's time in practice and should translate into a higher placing tomorrow. "I think the events that we need to work on are the new events -- discuss, javelin and the 4x100," Costanza said. "But the kids did a great job last week." Last week, the Owls absolutely dominated the Quakers and the rest of the competition in the dashes. Temple junior Inshallah Saunders, sophomore Beverly Chin and freshman Jennifer Foster placed first, second and third respectively in the 200-meter dash. Saunders and Chin also placed on top in the 100. In the 400, Temple's Nickeya Martin, Jennifer Foster and Benita Chandler finished with the top three times. This week, the Owls should be difficult to outrun in the dashes, even though the Quakers have many of the Ivy League's top short-distance runners in Shana MacDonald-Black, Kelley King, Renata Clay, Michelle Santine and April Edlow. The Red and Blue also hope a second week of practice will improve its performance in the new field events, in which no one team is dominant. The field team has practiced intensely on South Field this week, hoping to gain an edge over its competition. Without Lafayette -- the dominant team in the javelin -- at this week's meet, sophomore Christina Schelin, freshman Sherry Cheng and juniors Angie Jimenez and Christi Strawley should all challenge for the top spots in the competition. Freshman shot putter Luana Botelho, who finished third last week, has a strong chance of winning the shot put tomorrow. The jumpers, who dominated throughout the winter season and last weekend at the Penn Invitational, should be strong as always. Costanza, who in the past has been conservative in predicting how her team will perform, was far more confident than usual following Wednesday's practice. "I don't see any area causing us problems," Costanza said. "The only thing that can lead to real trouble for the team is cold weather and rain."

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