4x400 relay team shines for M. Track at the Relays

Sophomores Dan Nord and Rovin Martin were the Penn stars of the weekend. On rare occasions, a sports team will find itself with pure, raw athletic talent. The kind of talent which can master any position, any skill, any event. This kind of athlete doesn't come by too often, but it has surfaced on the Penn men's track team in the form of sophomore Dan Nord. Nord and his versatile abilities led the Quakers' performance in the 1997 Penn Relay Carnival, a performance which saw Penn trying hard to establish itself as a national power and, in some cases, doing it. Nord turned in the strongest individual performance of the Relays for the Quakers. Within a 24-hour period, between 1 p.m. Friday to 1 p.m Saturday, Nord would compete in and place, or help his team place, in three separate events. He started his endeavors in the eastern college long jump, where he finished fourth with a leap of 7.21 meters. The next day, he returned to the jumping pit, but this time in his specialty, the triple jump. Nord jumped 15.31 meters (50 feet, 2.75 inches), good enough for third place in the college triple jump, which featured a field of 32 competitors from all around the country. The sophomore phenom was not finished, however. He came back to run the third leg in the IC4A 4x100-meter relay, where he helped the team earn fifth place. Following Nord's lead was sophomore Stan Anderson, a strong jumper, who proved the relative strength of the Penn jumping program compared to the rest of the Northeast. Competing in the eastern college high jump, Anderson finished a strong fourth place, clearing a height of 6'10.75". Like Nord, Anderson came back in the triple jump in championship form. Anderson jumped 15.28 meters in the eastern college triple jump, blowing away the rest of the field and earning the title of Relays champion. The individual performances were noteworthy, but they did not compare to the magnificence of the Penn sprinters and their accomplishments in the relays. The Penn Relays have traditionally been a relay-oriented extravaganza, with the sprint relays taking center stage. This made the performance of the Penn sprinters that much sweeter, as the Quakers made a name for themselves in the marquee events of the Carnival. The aforementioned 4x100-meter relay team did wonders for establishing Penn as a strong sprinting squad. The Quakers' team of freshman Shawn Fernandez, junior Kael Coleman and seniors Henry Addo and Greg Davis, came out Friday morning and ran a fast time of 41.72 seconds, qualifying themselves to run on Saturday in the IC4A division. The relays portion of the Carnival is set up in such a way that the top qualifiers go on to the Championship and the next set go to the college and IC4A division. Although the IC4A division is the second set of qualifiers, to run in it is quite an accomplishment. In order to run in the 4x100 IC4A division, a team must be one of the 24 fastest squads out of almost 150 competitors. Not only did the Quakers qualify for this race, they finished fifth in a time of 41.29. Although not as strong as last year's first-place finish, the Quakers did well in this race. To come back, qualify and place in this race after losing two of their best sprinters, Chris Harper and Clive Brown, shows the depth of the Penn program. If the 4x100 showcased the strength of the Penn sprinting program, the Quakers' performance in the 4x400 made Penn sprinting into a powerhouse. The 4x400 team of Davis, junior Mike Stiffler, Coleman and sophomore Robin Martin, won its heat, which was the Heptagonal heat, in a time of 3:11.26, qualifying to run in the IC4A division on Saturday. This win showed the Quakers' dominance over their league rivals once again. "The Heptagonal Championships in two weeks is our most important meet," Martin said. "This victory gives us confidence and I'm really happy with the win." The Quakers were not satisfied with merely dominating their league rivals, however. The Relays are a national meet and the Penn 4x400-meter relay team realized this. In one of the final races of the meet with a strong pro-Quakers crowd behind them, the 4x400 team took almost one full second off of their time and scored an upset victory in the IC4A division in a time of 3:10.31. "All of the support from my teammates and the fans really got us going," Davis said. "We did it for each other and we did it for them." So ended the Quakers run in the 1997 Penn Relays. Perhaps all things didn't go as planned, but Penn showed it is the class of the league and is on its way to being a national power. With the Relays gone and the confidence level high, the Quakers' focus returns on the one goal which has driven them this entire year, reclaiming the outdoor Heptagonal Championship which Princeton took away from them last year in two weeks.