Botelho breaks record at Quaker Invite

The sophomore discus thrower reset her own Quakers record with a throw of 143 feet. Luana Botelho is re-writing the record books on a regular basis. After breaking the school record in the shot put and the discus as a freshman, and improving on her mark in the shot this winter, Botelho was at it again last weekend at the Quaker Invitational. A sophomore on the Penn women's track and field team, Botelho broke one of her own records yet again, this time in the discus. Coming off a disappointing showing in the Penn Invitational, Botelho was determined to show improvement and regain the form that has made her one of the most dominant throwers in Penn history in this, just her sophomore season. Last Saturday, she did just that. After a frustrating performance in the shot, Botelho unleashed a hurl of 143 feet, nine inches on her first throw, destroying her previous mark of 139'11''. "Going in, I was really disappointed with shot and not expecting anything in discus," Botelho said. Even after the throw, it took some time before Botelho realized she had made history once again. "All I really wanted to break was 41 meters," said Botelho. "Then they yelled out '43.82' (meters) and I was like 'Wow.' I knew it was out there but I wasn't sure." Botelho record-breaking throw gave her a first-place finish to go along with her second-place throw in the shot. While her performance was certainly the most outstanding of the day, Botelho was hardly the only Penn performer to stand out. The Quakers continued to dominate the field events, especially the jumps. They showed the most depth in the high jump, where they swept the top eight places. Leading the way were juniors Tiffany Archer and Satsuki Mitchell and sophomores Lindsey Anderson and Julie Denisenko. Penn athletes also claimed six of the top 10 spots in the long jump and four of the top eight in the triple jump. Sophomore Aqiyla Muhammed set the pace with a winning leap of 18'5'' in the long jump and a second place in the triple jump, finishing less than an inch behind the winner, freshman sensation Ruthie Neuhaus of Penn. Another impressive freshman, Richelle Clements, continued to impress with second-place finishes in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. In the 200, Clements lost out to Renata Clay, a Penn junior who finished sixth in the 100 at the Outdoor Heps last spring. In the middle distances, the Red and Blue showed improvement over the previous week with three top-five finishers in the 400 and six of the top 10 in the 800. Vicki Moore blazed to victory with an outstanding time of 57 seconds in the 400, with Adria Ferguson and Michelle Satine finishing third and fifth, respectively. In the 800, sophomore Jessica Mitchell set a personal record with a time of 2:14. In the distance events, usually not one of its strong points, Penn registered a solid showing behind an outstanding performance from Rita Garber. The sophomore won the 3,000 with a time of 10:07, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. With two meets behind them, the Quakers appear to be in good shape as the second half of the season approaches. They will be back in action again this Sunday in the University of Pennsylvania Invitational at Franklin Field.