W. X-C finish fifth out of eight at Navy Invite

Saturday's race at the Navy Invitational was a wake-up call for the Penn women's cross country team. By placing fifth out of eight teams, the Quakers' optimism took a beating. After a defeat at Princeton, Penn felt it was consistently improving. At the Paul Short Invitational, the stiff competition had been intimidating, but overall the Quakers ran well together. Now, however, the Quakers realize that if they doesn't pull things together soon, a strong showing at the Heptagonal Championship on November 1 may be jeopardized. The Quakers (127 points) were beaten by Mount St. Mary's (50), Navy (54), George Mason (86) and St. Joseph's (95), but more significant to Penn was the weak finish of its pack. In the last two races, the top five finishers had all been within 25 seconds of one another. On Saturday, however, Penn's top five runners were only within 41 seconds of each other. Penn assistant coach Cricket Batz Shaklee had hoped that the runners would have recuperated over fall break and would be rested and healthy for the race this weekend. She felt that the biggest problem in the last race was fatigue. The runners themselves strove primarily to race in a strong front pack. They believed that their pack running had been getting stronger and stronger with each race. The Navy Invitational did not meet anyone's expectations. "Cricket told us to run in packs, and I think that the pack running went really well," Quakers freshman Leanne Shear said. "It's extremely motivating to hear encouragement from your teammates. We were all shouting and cheering each other on, but then we sort of lost steam." No one seems to be able to pinpoint exactly what the problem was on Saturday. The conditions weren't great, especially considering that the course was very hilly. "A lot of it maybe had to do with the weather. It was cold and windy, and the course was strange," Penn freshman Stephanie Bell said. "I think that even before the race we were defeated. We were focusing more on the weather than on the race." As a result, the Quakers did not have particularly strong finishes. Bell finished first for Penn and 15th overall, with sophomore Rita Garber only six seconds behind her. Garber was followed by captain Michelle Belsley, freshman Kacy Corbett and junior Kirsten Gregory. Like the last invite, the Quakers started off strongly. They had a fast group of front runners with another pack close behind. During the race, however, the packs drifted apart. By the time the Quakers reached the finish line, they were too scattered. In order to score the points, Penn needs to place well, more runners need to be in the front pack at the finish. Even if the middle pack is large and strong, it won't make any difference if the top five finishers aren't all fast and close together. "We definitely have more potential than we showed on Saturday," Shear said. "We just need to pull it all together for Heps." The Quakers have next weekend off which allows them even more time to focus on the upcoming championships. "Right now, we want to work on regaining our confidence and improving our speedwork while we're tapering," Penn junior Lorie Roth said. "I don't think Lehigh will affect everyone for Heps."