Flu is passed around M.X-C

No, the Ebola virus is not going around the Penn men's cross country team. With the three most important races of the season coming up, an epidemic might be the only thing that will keep anyone out of a race. And some of the players might even try to run through that. The Quakers ostensibly went home last weekend to "relax and clear their minds," according to sophomore runner John Clayton. What he really meant is they went home to get away from each other as they continue to pass the flu bug around the team. With Clayton among those recovering from illness, sophomore Joe Campagna is the newest victim. But the only serious injury for Penn is senior captain Paolo Frescura, whose hip injury has cost him the last two races. "He will be racing, but he's going to be in some pain," Clayton said. "We expect him to do well." Despite resting many of their top runners in last Saturday's race, the Red and Blue finished second in the 8K Leopard Invitational. The team was led by Clayton, who finished second overall with a time of 25 minutes, 57 seconds on the Lafayette course. Penn finished ahead of Binghamton, Moravian, Drexel and Lafayette, but fell to Williams. "Last week was kind of ho-hum," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "We're keyed on what's going to happen the next couple of weeks." The Quakers will compete in the district championship IC4As tomorrow. The race takes place on the same New York City course at Van Cortlandt Park, as the Heptagonal Championships the following week. The IC4As usually take place at the end of the season and determine bragging rights among the major conferences in the East. Due to a scheduling foul-up, a few of the top teams in the area had prior commitments and will not be at the race. "We feel we're one of the better teams in the East," Powell said. "Hopefully we'll finish in the top five or six? out of 25 or so schools." After returning from fall break, the Quakers had a hard workout Tuesday. Yesterday and today's practices were easy five- to seven-mile runs. Although this weekend's race is by no means insignificant, it is also the last tune-up before the Heptagonal Championships, which determine the title of the Heptagonal Games Association, a group which consists of the eight Ivy League schools and Navy. "There are four teams that are better than the rest of the field: Navy, Brown, Princeton, and us," Clayton said. "And Brown choked last year after they were favored." With only a few key races left, the Quakers hope to peak at the right time. If they can stay away from each other and get healthy, this team should finish among the top teams in the East.