W. X-C places 13th at Paul Short Invite

Last weekend's Paul Short Invitational didn't turn out as well for the Penn women's cross country team as the Quakers would have hoped, but it was good practice for the Heptagonal Championships which loom only two weeks away. Although Penn had an above-average finish, 13th out of 32 teams, the Quakers' lack of teamwork was a disappointment. "It was a really fast race, and, although we didn't pull it together as much as we would have liked, we still ran respectably," Penn junior Linda Packard said. The Quakers' goals for the past couple of meets have been to focus on boosting their confidence and on striving to work together as a team. At the Lafayette Invitational, they successfully executed their pack-running plan, but on Saturday the Quakers were unable to realize their goals. "In the beginning of the race, the whole team was in the front, but by the end we scattered," Penn freshman Anita Kumar said. The competition at the Paul Short Invitational was the most difficult that the Quakers will face all season. Many teams, namely Penn State, Massachusetts and Georgetown, are among the best in the nation and all stand a chance of winning the NCAA championship. Penn assistant coach Cricket Batz Shaklee stressed that as a young team with 10 freshman, Penn had very little, if any, practice running against such fierce competition. "There was a lot of really good people there," Quakers freshman Stephanie Bush said. "It was the best competition I've ever run against, and that can be intimidating. There were some of the most high-caliber athletes. You can be totally physically prepared, but mentally you're a wreck." Senior Michelle Belsley, running in her second race of the season is clearly on the rebound and was able to break the 19-minute barrier. Leanne Shear's performance was especially impressive since she is one of the 10 inexperienced freshman. She was plagued with a sprained ankle at the beginning of the season, and this was her first race back. Initially, the coaches had feared that she wouldn't be back this season at all. Next up for the Quakers is Saturday's meet at Navy, where they will face some of the most challenging hills all season. "In general, I think we need to work more on teamwork," Bush said. "That fell apart last weekend. It helps motivate you to do your best when you're near someone." During the next two weeks, Penn will be tapering the workouts to avoid burn-out before Heps. "We're looking to step up with the top five just a notch higher than we have been," Batz Shaklee said. "We have incredible depth, with a 21 to 30 second spread between the top five runners -- the scorers -- but we need some front runners."