Big Red and Penn team up to crush British

The Penn women's track and field team headed to Ithaca, N.Y., this weekend with two things in mind. First and foremost, they hoped to put in one last solid performance before the Penn Relays and Heptagonal Championships. Secondly, this meet was to be a cultural experience, as Penn and Cornell faced off against Oxford and Cambridge. Every four years, the British schools travel to compete in the States. The American schools also go to England once every four years, with the trips being staggered two years apart. Before the meet started, the four schools participated in a reception and a long-standing tradition of exchanging gifts with each other. The Quakers traded personal items such as Penn Relays hats, pins and jackets for Oxford and Cambridge apparel. The scoring system also added an unusual element to the meet. Penn and Cornell, along with Princeton, traditionally represent the biggest rivalry in the Ivy League. However, by nature of the scoring system, the two squads were teamed together versus their British counterparts. In many ways, this led to a greater camaraderie between the two schools, as they suddenly found themselves rooting for each other. "It was a really satisfying experience," said Quakers senior Christi Strawley. "There wasn't nearly as much tension between us." In this sense, the Quakers definitely got something positive out of the meet. The weather, however, was not cooperative, making the conditions deplorable and the performances unspectacular. From a performance-based perspective, Penn coach Betty Costanza was disappointed with the meet. "Some good came out of [the meet], but not much," said Costanza. "From a cultural perspective, yes. But condition-wise, definitely not." The weather, coupled with the conditions at the newly opened Kane Sports Complex, led to a long and miserable day. Flurries of snow and sleet, mixed with rain and a bitting wind, held consistent throughout the day. These conditions caused quite a problem, especially for the throwers. The Kane Complex, because it is brand-new, is still in the process of growing new grass. Given the rain and the snow, the throwers ended up hurling their implements into four-to-six inches of mud. The conditions, however bad, obviously did not detract one Quaker from another record-breaking performance. Sophomore Luanna Botelho broke the same Penn shot put record she did two weeks ago, taking home first place overall with a throw over 43'8". Botelho, up against one of her biggest competitors (Cornell's Tara Amarosa), showed no let-down because of the weather, qualifying for the ECAC Championships in the process. Other first place finishers for Penn include Kelly King in the 100-meter dash, winning in a time of 12.63 seconds, Jennifer Roy in the 200 (25.93 seconds), and sophomore Aqiyla Muhammed in the long jump (17' 11"). The 4x100 relay team also finished first with a time of 48.94 seconds, still in pursuit of the Penn record. The Quakers also teamed up with Cornell in the 4x400 relay, defeated the visiting schools with a time of 3:58. "They did what they had to do," said Costanza.