W.X-Country heads to ECACs

Start with a flat loop around the park for about a mile. Then climb almost non-stop through a narrow path nestled within the trees. Finally, exit the woods and make a bee-line to the finishing chute 3/4 of a mile away. This is no roller-coaster -- it is the course that the women's cross-country team must race on for six kilometers (3.75 miles) in the East Coast Athletic Conference Regional Championships on Friday. Held at the historic Van Cortland Park in the Bronx, N.Y., this race features more than 15 schools along the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina. Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci referred to the competition as "the best of the best." Ivy rivals Yale, Princeton and Cornell -- as well as other top competitors Duke, George Mason and Drexel -- competed in the inaugural running of the race at this venue last year. They should be back as obstacles to the Quakers again on Friday. "The competition from the Heptagonal Championships will be there [on Friday] so we can judge where we are at this point," sophomore Meredith Rossner said. The Heptagonals, which is Penn's biggest race of the season, will be held again at Van Cortland Park on October 30. Penn should be familiar with the course after running there on Friday. Senior captain Rita Garber is certainly familiar with the quirks of Van Cortland Park, as she has run there in each of the past three years. "I like the course," she said. "What slows people down are the hills, but I don't mind because that's where I pass people." She passed enough people to finish 23rd in this race last year, and Garber is looking for a top-20 finish this year. Behind her lead, the Quakers as a team finished eighth in the ECAC Regionals last year, but will be challenged to improve upon that place on Friday. "It is the worst time of the year," Tenisci said. "Everyone is exhausted, tired and sick." The season has been having the greatest impact on the freshmen who are just becoming accustomed to the daily grind of a college season. Rossner noticed that "the freshmen, especially, are feeling the effects of the mid-terms." "We've had a week to rest and tune up, though," Garber said, "and we've had no major problems with sickness." Still, even the resting has not been easy. Monday's practice, for instance, consisted of three one-mile runs at race pace. Because of the fatigue, the Penn coaches decided the team would benefit from more tapering. "We've tapered, and now are legs are ready to race," Penn freshman Katie Henderson said. Henderson said she and fellow freshman Susan Cook have been "ready to race" all year, as they have been consistent scorers for the Quakers. In addition to solid performances by the freshmen, the Quakers have been sparked by the emergence of junior Stephanie Bell, who has been key to the team's continuing improvement. Bell, just sixth on the team in the season's first race, has become the team's best runner behind Rita Garber in the last month. Bell and the other Quakers hope to continue their success on Friday. The odds for that look strong, as Tenisci said the team is in "very good shape" and "the weather should be very good." Sounds like the recipe for a very good race.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.