W. Track sets three school records at Delaware

Junior shotputter Luana Bothello set one of three new Penn records at the Delaware Invitational. The Penn women's track team set three school records and numerous personal bests en route to a first place finish at the Delaware Invitational on Saturday. Since Penn competed against several Division I schools, this win should improve the Quakers in the rankings. According to Penn coach Tony Tenisci, the Quakers were ranked No. 20 nationally prior to the meet, which featured Maryland, North Carolina State and Navy. "We had an outstanding meet. We competed against some very high quality kids from other schools that are much more into track and field," Tenisci said, referring to the availability of track scholarships at Maryland, N.C. State and Delaware. "For us to have competed at such a high level with some very good state schools and technical schools was really exciting." One of the new Penn records was set by junior Luana Botelho in the shotput. Botelho broke her own indoor record, with a distance of 43 feet 4 inches. "I was happy. It still wasn't what I was looking for, but I'll take what I got. I still look to improve and I still have higher goals," Botelho said. Another school record was broken by sophomore Mandy Bennett in the weight throw with a distance of 53 feet 1 inch. In the process, Bennett broke her personal record by almost three feet, qualifying her for the East Coast Athletic Conference Championships. "It was really thrilling. I wasn't quite expecting to break the record this early in the season," Bennett said. "It was one of my goals for later on." Junior Jessica Mitchell set yet a third school record in the same day for the Quakers during the 500 meter run with a time of 1 minute 16 seconds. Mitchell has competed in all three meets this season, and in each one she has qualified for ECACs in a different event. At the Navy Invitational Mitchell qualified for the 1000 meter, and last week, at Yale, Mitchell qualified for the 800 meter. Not only did Mitchell qualify for ECACs this weekend in the 500 meter, but she set a field house record at Delaware. "I wanted it. I didn't really expect it," Mitchell said. "I am a lot more focused on track this year than I have been for my past two years. I just put a lot more effort into it and luckily I'm getting a lot back." In addition to the new school records, many of the Quakers placed in the top five in their events and set personal records. Sophomore Ruthie Neuhaus jumped for over 39 feet in the triple jump, setting a personal record and placing second. Junior Lisa El placed fourth in the triple jump. "This is just the beginning of what the girls can do. This was exceptional, but these girls are exceptional," Tenisci said. "This was really a nice indication for them, where they are, that they are in really good shape, and they're ready to compete against some good quality people." In the shotput, freshmen Yinka Orafidiya and Monica Maccani placed third and fifth, respectively. Meanwhile, at the long jump pit, junior Aqiyla Muhammed and freshman Bassey Adjah placed second and third, respectively. Penn swept the top two places in the high jump thanks to senior Satsuki Mitchell's first place finish and junior Lindsey Anderson's second. Both jumped 5 feet 3.75 inches, with Mitchell winning the tiebreaker of having fewer total misses. In the track events, junior Vicki Moore finished third in the 400 meter dash and helped contribute to the second place finish of the 4x400 meter relay team. Freshmen Christina Faulkner and JaJuan Gair competed in the 55 meter hurdles and placed second and third.