Course traffic may be problem, for M. X-C

With more than 20 schools and 300 runners competing in tomorrow's Iona Invitational at VanCortland Park in New York, one would think that Penn's men's cross country team would have difficulty sizing up the field. In actuality, though, the Quakers' focus lies with only one team's performance -- their own. Coming off a disappointing outing a week ago at Navy, Penn has vowed to concentrate on its own performance rather than worry about the other teams in the field. "I'm just watching what we're doing. I could care less what the other teams are doing," Quakers coach Charlie Powell said. "We want to get out, run smooth and stay together." This weekend's race carries added importance because of its location. VanCortland Park is the course where the Heptagonal Championships -- the race that determines the league champion -- are run in early November. For the freshmen Quakers, this will be their first opportunity to practice a course in which experience is a decided advantage. "It's definitely easier once you know the course," Penn junior Aaron McCommons said. "The first couple of times you run it, the back hills look the same. You're not sure which hill is the last one. Experience helps you control your use of energy in that section." The Quakers hope to use tomorrow's meet as a practice run for the Heptagonals may be ruined by a common New York problem -- traffic. With 300 participants on the course at once, those runners not in the lead face the risk of getting stuck in a tight heavy pack and having their pace slowed considerably. "All we want to do is get a good race at VanCortland. That's all we care about," Powell said. "The problem is there are going to be 25 teams and maybe 300 runners. The course can't handle that many runners. At a mile the course narrows. We could get stuck in a pack so clogged up that people are reduced to jogging." In order to combat that potential problem, the Quakers hope to get out to a quick start. But spending too much energy to avoid traffic early could prove costly when trying to run together as a pack over the five-mile span. "The course dictates that the first three miles be run quickly and then hang on for the last two," Powell said. "It's mentally taxing to be almost spent with two miles to go." Despite the potential hazards of running in a large field of racers, the Quakers will do their best to focus on only the runners in red and blue. "We're going to go out and run the way we're supposed to," McCommons said. "We're focussing on ourselves this week. We didn't do that last week. We won't focus on the other teams."

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