M. Track runs away from rival Cornell

Two weekends ago, the Penn men's track team lost a dual meet to Princeton. Saturday, at Franklin Field, the Quakers were not about to lose to another Ivy foe in a meet with Cornell. A 114-49 thrashing of the Big Red proved this point. The final score was not much of a surprise because Cornell, the sixth-place finisher at the Indoor Heptagonal Championships, was not as highly touted as the Penn team. The competitive edge of the Cornell squad was never in doubt, however, as the Big Red consider the Quakers their biggest rival. "They were pretty psyched," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "They came after us, but we're a pretty strong team right now." Despite their fired-up state, the Big Red could not do much to stop the Quakers' talent. Penn finished first in most events and had several athletes make the all-time top 10 at Penn. Indoor NCAA qualifier Robin Martin led the way for Penn as he smoked the field in the 400 meter, running away with first place in 47.1 seconds. The time places Martin sixth on the all-time list. While Martin showcased his speed in the 400, senior captain Kael Coleman did the same in the 200 meter. Coleman took first with a time of 21.4 seconds. "I'm happy with my performance because I've run pretty poorly outdoors," Coleman said. Coleman is peaking at just the right time of year. This weekend, Franklin Field will play host to the Penn Relays, the world's largest relay meet. Also, the Quakers will enter the championship portion of the season in just a few weeks. The dual meet with Cornell was the first step in the preparation. "I think everyone was hungry to get a good meet in before Penn Relays and Heps," Coleman said. Most of the Penn team did get a good meet in by achieving personal bests in their events. Senior captain Lucas Deines earned himself a fifth-place spot on the all-time Penn list with a 191'3" mark in the hammer throw. Lucas was not the only Deines to make an all-time list. His brother, sophomore Josh Deines, threw the discus 165'3" for a personal record and eighth all-time. The jumpers also turned in impressive marks at the second and final dual meet of the year. Dan Nord leaped 24'4 1/2" to take first in the long jump, and Stan Anderson hopped, skipped and jumped to first in the triple jump with 49'3/4". Anderson also improved two inches from 6'7" to 6'9" and took first place in the high jump. "Personally, I knew that I needed to shape up because these are all big meets from now on and there is no room to mess around," Anderson said. With the big meets rapidly approaching, the Quakers used the Cornell meet to work on their mental approach for the big meets. The 4x100 meter relay was able to get the baton all the way around the track flawlessly and ran 41.2 seconds, currently the fastest time in the Ivy League. While the Cornell meet did not offer the best competition, the Red and Blue did use it to prepare for bigger meets. If their performance Saturday is any indication of how they will perform, the Quakers should excel in the postseason. "We're getting there," Powell said. "We're getting there fast and furious."

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