Track stars fail in Atlanta

Compiled by the SP Sports Staff Matt Levine, who serves as an assistant track coach for the Quakers, came in eighth of eight runners in his 400 intermediate hurdle race. Levine had qualified automatically by posting a time of 50.19 seconds last month. Going into the nationally televised Olympic Trials, Levine had been confident that he was peaking at just the right time and set the semi-finals as his goal. But the race never materialized for him. John Taylor, a 1995 Penn graduate and a former All-American, was the other Penn hopeful. He came in 15th in the opening round of the javelin competition. Taylor had provisionally qualified for the Trials with a throw of 237 feet, 9 inches, and was allowed to compete when one of the higher finishers dropped out becasue of injury. In fact, Taylor had only found out that he would attend the Trials through a late-night phone call. The ex-Penn great himself is no stranger to injury. In addition to not advancing out of the first round, Taylor reinjured his lower back.