Princeton tops M. Track in battle of Heps powers

Last year, the Penn men's track team lost the indoor Heptagonal Championships to Princeton, and lost its head-to-head regular season outdoor matchup to the Tigers. But the Quakers managed to beat Princeton when it counted, capturing the outdoor Heps title. This year, the Quakers are in the same position. But after having already lost indoor Heps this season, Penn was further embarrassed this past weekend by Princeton -- losing by a margin of almost 20 points in head-to-head competition. "I think this may have been the wake-up call we needed," Penn freshman long jumper J.P. Pollak said of the Quakers' 93.5-74.5 loss to the Tigers. Yale also competed, but was a non-factor, scoring only 35 points. Although there were a few bright spots, most of the Quakers had less than spectacular performances. "A lot of people who usually get the job done didn't," Penn co-captain Greg Schroeder said. Schroeder, who has consistently been jumping over 16 feet in the pole vault, finished third with a jump of 15 feet, five inches. That was partially due to a bruise on his knee that he suffered during his first jump. "For everything that happened, I had an OK day," Schroeder said. The tone of the meet was set early when the Penn 4x100 relay team surprisingly lost to Princeton. "In the beginning, it didn't seem like we were ready to compete," Penn freshman high jumper Rich Carlson said. "I think we need to work on hand-offs," said Quakers co-captain Chris Harper, who anchored the second-place 4x100 team. Harper was one of the few Penn competitors who had a good meet. Harper was victorious in the 400-meter and 200-meter events and anchored the winning 4x400 team. He said he was not bothered by a hamstring injury that kept him out of last week's meet. The triple jumping squad also had an excellent day, taking the top four places. Pollak, normally a long jumper, jumped in place of Dave Davenport and qualified for the IC4As with a jump of 14.49 meters. "I know we have the talent to beat a team like that," Pollak said. "This sets it up for revenge at Heps."