W. Track takes first in three-way Ivy meet

The Quakers' throwers led the way in avictory over Princeton and Yale. Here's one for the math majors: take great weather, add the excitement of a first dual meet plus the intensity of competing against intra-league rivals and the result -- a convincing victory for the Penn women's track team. Penn (1-0, 1-0 Ivy League) won Saturday's dual meet at Princeton with a score of 99, defeating Princeton by 45 points and annihilating Yale by a whopping 69. "This was a great meet for everyone on the team," Penn junior Luana Botelho said. "Everyone was ready to compete." Some athletes were amazed at the margin that the Quakers defeated Princeton, the 1997 Indoor Champions. "I expected the meet to be closer," Penn junior Rita Garber said. "I was surprised that [Princeton] didn't do as well." While the Tigers' performance was surprisingly poor, Yale came out better than expected, even despite a low score. Although Yale's score was below the other two teams, it was better than one could have expected heading into Saturday's meet. The Elis fared beyond expectations in the 3000 meter, 1500 meter and the hammer throw. "We weren't expecting much from Yale, but they were a factor in some events," Botelho said. Both athletes and coaches had trouble choosing key events. Senior captain Jen Roy pointed to strong performances both in running and field events as main factors for the team's victory. "The younger throwers in the discus were key as well as the younger jumpers," Roy said. The Quakers did dominate the discus, as freshman Amy Nichols, Botelho and junior Mandy Bennett placed first, second and third, respectively. Roy's mention of the jumping events alluded to the long jump where the Red and Blue also placed one, two and three. Junior Lisa El won the event. Roy also pointed to the 4x100 team -- senior captain Renata Clay, Richelle Clements, Dawn McGee and Shana Black -- as a factor in the competition. The athletes in this event beat Princeton by 0.2 seconds. "The 4x100 team had their troubles through the first few meets this season, but they really pulled themselves together against Princeton and Yale." Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci also had difficulty in choosing the most important athletes and events of the meet. "Across the board, the team's achievements were excellent," the coach said. "They traveled to Princeton's brand new facility and out-performed the competition." Tenisci believed that both Bennett and Botelho had an outstanding meet. Both athletes set personal records -- Bennett in the hammer and Botelho in the shot put. "I was really happy with my performance in the shot put," Botelho said. "I had struggled in that event in the previous meets, so it's nice to know I can throw that well." Tenisci was also pleased with Garber's performance in the 3,000 meter. Prior to the meet, the coach had felt that the Quakers might be weaker than Princeton in the distance events. However, Garber placed second in the 3,000, surpassing two Princeton runners in the final stage of the race and losing only to a Yale runner. Furthermore, Garber ran the race in less than 10 minutes for the first time. "I had been looking to break 10 minutes for a while, so I was thrilled to accomplish that," Garber said. The team's focus on the meet was also important in defeating Princeton. Some athletes and coaches were worried that the team might look past this meet to next weekend's matchup with Cornell. This concern, however, did not turn out to be a problem. "We wanted to beat Princeton as much as we wanted to beat Cornell," Roy said. If that desire continues, the team should have a very successful rest of the season.

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