M. Track hopes bus arrives in time for Cornell Invitational

The Penn men's indoor track team hopes this weekend's meet at Cornell is better than its most recent outing, in which the Quakers had to wait more than two hours for a late bus to Navy. The waiting seems inevitable, because the Quakers have approximately 20 hours to make the six-hour trip to the Cornell Invitational. Hopefully, the team will arrive in time to get a good night's rest at a hotel before tomorrow's meet. "We're going down the night before, so I think maybe that's just the plan -- to make sure the bus has plenty of time to show up," Penn sophomore Darryl Olczak said. "It's a six-hour bus ride. Most people watch movies, we all gossip and hang out," Olczak added. "It's kind of a good bonding experience -- it brings the team a lot closer together. Some people even do homework." Besides Penn, the other schools attending the Invitational are St. Joseph's and Fordham. Penn coach Nathan Taylor would like to see the athletes reach their potential at this meet. "My expectations revolve around people getting closer to the ideal performances that they train to repeat," Taylor said. "They know this is one of the few opportunities to really start to show what they've worked hard to do." After getting the first meet under their belt and after nearly missing a meet last week, the freshmen are expected to show improvement at this meet. The upperclassmen are also expected to perform at a better level. "We want everyone to show up, do their best, give their all and have a lot of good performances, instead of just a couple of good performances from a few people," Olczak said. As the midpoint of the indoor track season approaches, many athletes feel the pressure to perform and qualify for the IC4As in March. Some of Penn's finest have already accomplished this, and are looking to improve before IC4As. "There is always room for improvement," Penn senior Stan Anderson said. "There is always nationals, which is really at the top of my list right now." Taylor feels that if the team shows up this weekend and remains healthy, it can defeat Cornell. "Health is a really important thing," Taylor said. "We have a few proven stars on the team, and if they're hurt, it's going to be difficult for us to do well." Whatever the outcome of the meet, the Red and Blue would like to turn in a strong performance tomorrow. "Hopefully this week we can get all of our big guns ready, and? qualify for IC4As," Olczak said. "We [have to] get that out of the way before the heart of the season comes along. It's one of those little things hanging on your back that you have to get rid of."