M. Track achieves mixed results

Schroeder, WilkinsonSchroeder, Wilkinsonchallenge personalSchroeder, Wilkinsonchallenge personalbests at Raleigh When the Penn men's track team left for the Raleigh Record Relays at North Carolina State last Thursday, it had certain expectations. "The reason we go down there is to get a lot of IC4A qualifiers and solid early season times," Penn assistant coach Matt Levine said. "It went okay, but it certainly could have gone a lot better. We were a little disappointed." While the team did not perform up to some expectations, it was not a poor showing at an extremely competitive meet. "We looked great in some spots and less than spectacular in others," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "It was a typical early season meet." While most of the team was less than excited about the meet, there were some strong individual performances. Senior co-captain Greg Schroeder placed second in the pole vault with a jump of 16 feet, 5 inches, equalling his personal record. Junior co-captain Matt Wilkinson beat his personal best by 22 seconds in the 10,000 meter run with an IC4A qualifying time of 30 minutes 47 seconds. "I was really happy," Wilkinson said, "but I think I can run faster." Senior Clive Brown also qualified for the IC4As with a time of 48.46 seconds in the 400-meter run. Although he placed sixth, senior co-captain Dave Rechtweg had a solid jump of 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump. "I usually don't jump this high early in the season," Rechtweg said. He added that because of muddy conditions he had to alter his run before he jumped. After blowing away the competition last week, the triple jump squad was not as successful in Raleigh. "Other than the Penn Relays, that's the most competitive meet the triple jumpers will see all season," Penn sophomore Dave Davenport said. Although the throwing squad overall had a disappointing experience, junior Chris Osentowski set an outdoor personal record of 50 feet, 11 inches in the shot put. Although the sprinters generally had mediocre individual times, the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams both ran well. The 4x200 team placed second overall and the 4x100 team placed second in its heat, in spite of missing three of its four normal runners. "This meet brought out a few things we need to work on to be ready for the end of the season," senior co-captain Chris Harper said. "We need to be more focused."