SPORTS: Summer in Review

The 1997-98 school year came to a close in May, and by that time, most Penn sports teams had finished their respective seasons. For Penn athletes, the summer was a chance to work on their skills and to improve before the next season. That, however, is not all the summer represented. For a season in which no organized collegiate athletics are scheduled, the summer months of 1998 are a busy time for Penn athletes. From the close of the spring season to summer basketball leagues and overseas tours, there was always something going on for the Quakers. As The Summer Pennsylvanian publishes its final issue, here is a look back at the highlights of the past few months in Penn athletics. · While most spring sports teams finished their seasons by the time finals rolled around, that was not the case for the Penn track teams. The tracksters remained on campus a few extra weeks, competing in the Heptagonal Championships, as well as the IC4A and ECAC Championships. On the weekend of May 9-10, all eyes in Ivy League track turned to Brown for Heps. The Penn men were looking to defend their outdoor title and to defeat Princeton, the team that edged them for the indoor title. Once again, the Quakers came up short, barely losing to Princeton by a score of 149-147. Robin Martin, however, did bring another title back to Penn. The winner of the 800, the second place finisher in the 400 and the anchor of the winning 4x400, Martin was named the meet's Most Outstanding Athlete. Martin repeated his 800 victory the following week at IC4As when Penn earned its highest point total since 1972 and placed second behind Georgetown. Martin's season, however, was not over. He went on to the NCAA Championships two weeks later and placed third in the 800, earning All-American honors. While not as successful as the men, the Penn women's track team also had some top performers at the season-ending meets. Although her team finished a disappointing fifth at Heps, junior Lisa El earned ten points with a first place finish in the triple jump. A week later, the Penn women tied William & Mary and UMass for 34th place at ECACs, scoring six points. · While some spring athletes were racing around the track, others were on the river in May. Both crew teams continued their seasons past the end of school. The Penn men's crew team became the winningest team at Eastern Sprints in the 1990s when it edged Harvard to take first place at the crew equivalent of the Ivy League championship. The Quakers could not repeat this performance two weeks later, however, as they finished fourth at the IRA Championship. Princeton won the race, and Penn also finished behind West Coast powers Washington and California. The Penn women's crew team also had representatives at the national championship. Although the Red and Blue did not qualify as a team, the varsity four did make the cut. Despite entering NCAAs as one of only four seeded boats, Penn could not get past the semifinal round and finished third in the Petite Final behind Michigan and Iowa. · Cliff Bayer proved once again that he is one of the best fencers in the nation. Bayer, who will be a junior in the fall, earned his third U.S. Division I Senior National Fencing title in the foil when he defeated his rival, recent Columbia grad Dan Kellner. Bayer, a 1996 Olympian, also spent a week in Portugal with some of the top fencers in the world. In a tournament at the training session, Bayer was the only American to advance to the round of 32 before losing to the eventual third place finisher. The captain of the U.S. fencing team, Bayer will be back in action at the World Fencing Championships in Switzerland in October. · Mina Pizzini may not be one of the most well-known athletes on campus, but she was Penn's lone representative at one of Philadelphia's largest sporting events this summer. Competing in the First Union Liberty Classic, Pizzini, a member of the Penn cycling team, raced with the best female cyclists in the world. She received an invitation to the prestigious Liberty Classic, which was recently named a World Cup Event. · Like Pizzini, two other Penn cyclists competed this summer. Detective Commander Tom King and Sergeant John Washington represented the Penn Police Department at the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Olympics. Washington and King both raced in the mountain bike race and the 5K run and brought home several awards to Penn. Although King is a former college athlete and works out several times each week, Washington is the more experienced athlete in police competitions. A former college cross country runner, Washington competed in the International Police Olympics in Salt Lake City in 1996 and hopes to compete at the 2000 Games in Stockholm, Sweden. · Mitch Marrow left his disappointing 1997 season and his eligibility scandal behind him when he inked a three year, $1.8 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Marrow, who was selected by the Panthers with the 73rd pick in the NFL Draft, is currently in Spartansburg, S.C., for Panthers training camp. He will compete will several others, including former All-Pro Sean Gilbert, for time on the line in Carolina's 3-4 defense. · Going to Europe was popular with Penn sports teams this summer. At the end of May, the field hockey team toured England and faced several club teams, teams who are much better than squads Penn faces during the season. The track teams were right behind the field hockey players, as they made their journey to the United Kingdom several weeks later. Teamed with athletes from Cornell, the Quakers annihilated the European competition. In fact, at one meet on the island of Guernsey, the Americans broke 16 meet records. Finally, the crew team headed to Great Britain for the Henley Royal Regatta. Earning a bye in the first round, Penn beat a German crew before losing to Harvard in the semifinals of the Ladie's Plate. · While most activity on the Penn sports scene was limited to the current college athletes, one alum stood out on a larger stage. Playing in his second full Major League season, 1992 Engineering grad Doug Glanville has been a steady performer as the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. After an impressive season with the Cubs in 1997, Glanville was traded to the Phillies for second baseman Mickey Morandini in the off-season. The trade has worked wonderfully for the Phillies, who are dramatically improved over last year's squad. Glanville is currently second in the National League with 147 hits and fifth in the NL with 85 runs. He has had hitting streaks of 18 and 17 games, as well as two that lasted 14 games. · Penn said goodbye to one of its legends this summer. Franny Murray, who was inducted into the Penn Hall of Fame in May, died in July at age 82. A star for the Penn football team in the 1930s, Murray was a large part of the legendary "Destiny Backfield." He also captained the Penn basketball team, and he served as Penn's Athletic Director in the 1950s. · Gordie Ernst became the newest member of the Penn coaching staff. Replacing the departed Gene Miller, Ernst was named men's tennis coach. A former tennis and hockey player at Brown, Ernst was most recently an assistant coach at Northwestern. He hopes to improve on the 9-13 record the Quakers had last year under Miller. While college athletics are quiet during the summer months, the sports page was never blank. There might not be any intercollegiate competition, but that does not mean nothing is happening.By Rick Haggerty The Summer Pennsylvanian The 1997-98 school year came to a close in May, and by that time, most Penn sports teams had finished their respective seasons. For Penn athletes, the summer was a chance to work on their skills and to improve before the next season. That, however, is not all the summer represented. For a season in which no organized collegiate athletics are scheduled, the summer months of 1998 are a busy time for Penn athletes. From the close of the spring season to summer basketball leagues and overseas tours, there was always something going on for the Quakers. As The Summer Pennsylvanian publishes its final issue, here is a look back at the highlights of the past few months in Penn athletics. · While most spring sports teams finished their seasons by the time finals rolled around, that was not the case for the Penn track teams. The tracksters remained on campus a few extra weeks, competing in the Heptagonal Championships, as well as the IC4A and ECAC Championships. On the weekend of May 9-10, all eyes in Ivy League track turned to Brown for Heps. The Penn men were looking to defend their outdoor title and to defeat Princeton, the team that edged them for the indoor title. Once again, the Quakers came up short, barely losing to Princeton by a score of 149-147. Robin Martin, however, did bring another title back to Penn. The winner of the 800, the second place finisher in the 400 and the anchor of the winning 4x400, Martin was named the meet's Most Outstanding Athlete. Martin repeated his 800 victory the following week at IC4As when Penn earned its highest point total since 1972 and placed second behind Georgetown. Martin's season, however, was not over. He went on to the NCAA Championships two weeks later and placed third in the 800, earning All-American honors. While not as successful as the men, the Penn women's track team also had some top performers at the season-ending meets. Although her team finished a disappointing fifth at Heps, junior Lisa El earned ten points with a first place finish in the triple jump. A week later, the Penn women tied William & Mary and UMass for 34th place at ECACs, scoring six points. · While some spring athletes were racing around the track, others were on the river in May. Both crew teams continued their seasons past the end of school. The Penn men's crew team became the winningest team at Eastern Sprints in the 1990s when it edged Harvard to take first place at the crew equivalent of the Ivy League championship. The Quakers could not repeat this performance two weeks later, however, as they finished fourth at the IRA Championship. Princeton won the race, and Penn also finished behind West Coast powers Washington and California. The Penn women's crew team also had representatives at the national championship. Although the Red and Blue did not qualify as a team, the varsity four did make the cut. Despite entering NCAAs as one of only four seeded boats, Penn could not get past the semifinal round and finished third in the Petite Final behind Michigan and Iowa. · Cliff Bayer proved once again that he is one of the best fencers in the nation. Bayer, who will be a junior in the fall, earned his third U.S. Division I Senior National Fencing title in the foil when he defeated his rival, recent Columbia grad Dan Kellner. Bayer, a 1996 Olympian, also spent a week in Portugal with some of the top fencers in the world. In a tournament at the training session, Bayer was the only American to advance to the round of 32 before losing to the eventual third place finisher. The captain of the U.S. fencing team, Bayer will be back in action at the World Fencing Championships in Switzerland in October. · Mina Pizzini may not be one of the most well-known athletes on campus, but she was Penn's lone representative at one of Philadelphia's largest sporting events this summer. Competing in the First Union Liberty Classic, Pizzini, a member of the Penn cycling team, raced with the best female cyclists in the world. She received an invitation to the prestigious Liberty Classic, which was recently named a World Cup Event. · Like Pizzini, two other Penn cyclists competed this summer. Detective Commander Tom King and Sergeant John Washington represented the Penn Police Department at the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Olympics. Washington and King both raced in the mountain bike race and the 5K run and brought home several awards to Penn. Although King is a former college athlete and works out several times each week, Washington is the more experienced athlete in police competitions. A former college cross country runner, Washington competed in the International Police Olympics in Salt Lake City in 1996 and hopes to compete at the 2000 Games in Stockholm, Sweden. · Mitch Marrow left his disappointing 1997 season and his eligibility scandal behind him when he inked a three year, $1.8 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Marrow, who was selected by the Panthers with the 73rd pick in the NFL Draft, is currently in Spartansburg, S.C., for Panthers training camp. He will compete will several others, including former All-Pro Sean Gilbert, for time on the line in Carolina's 3-4 defense. · Going to Europe was popular with Penn sports teams this summer. At the end of May, the field hockey team toured England and faced several club teams, teams who are much better than squads Penn faces during the season. The track teams were right behind the field hockey players, as they made their journey to the United Kingdom several weeks later. Teamed with athletes from Cornell, the Quakers annihilated the European competition. In fact, at one meet on the island of Guernsey, the Americans broke 16 meet records. Finally, the crew team headed to Great Britain for the Henley Royal Regatta. Earning a bye in the first round, Penn beat a German crew before losing to Harvard in the semifinals of the Ladie's Plate. · While most activity on the Penn sports scene was limited to the current college athletes, one alum stood out on a larger stage. Playing in his second full Major League season, 1992 Engineering grad Doug Glanville has been a steady performer as the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. After an impressive season with the Cubs in 1997, Glanville was traded to the Phillies for second baseman Mickey Morandini in the off-season. The trade has worked wonderfully for the Phillies, who are dramatically improved over last year's squad. Glanville is currently second in the National League with 147 hits and fifth in the NL with 85 runs. He has had hitting streaks of 18 and 17 games, as well as two that lasted 14 games. · Penn said goodbye to one of its legends this summer. Franny Murray, who was inducted into the Penn Hall of Fame in May, died in July at age 82. A star for the Penn football team in the 1930s, Murray was a large part of the legendary "Destiny Backfield." He also captained the Penn basketball team, and he served as Penn's Athletic Director in the 1950s. · Gordie Ernst became the newest member of the Penn coaching staff. Replacing the departed Gene Miller, Ernst was named men's tennis coach. A former tennis and hockey player at Brown, Ernst was most recently an assistant coach at Northwestern. He hopes to improve on the 9-13 record the Quakers had last year under Miller. While college athletics are quiet during the summer months, the sports page was never blank. There might not be any intercollegiate competition, but that does not mean nothing is happening.

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