Opponents cannot keep up with M. Track at Cornell

Penn used strong showings by a number of athletes to finish well ahead of its competitors. So far in 1999, the Penn men's track team is undefeated when the team bus arrives on time. The Quakers' performance on Saturday improved drastically compared to the last meet, when the team bus arrived over two hours late. Penn took the other three teams to school by winning with a score of 74.33 at Cornell. The hosts put in a decent showing at their own invite with a score of 59.66, and St. Joe's finished third with a respectable 44. Fordham brought up the rear with a meager 18 points. "It was a good meet," Penn sophomore thrower Kyle Turley said. "The team did well overall. This is the first meet that nothing went wrong." The invite went very well for Turley, who finished first in the weight throw with a personal best of 17.07 meters. Penn was well represented in the throwing events, as junior Matt Pagliasotti finished right behind Turley in the hammer throw. Penn junior Brent Stiles finished second in the shot put. "We had good throws overall," Turley said. "The training is starting to pay off." Penn senior Stan Anderson highlighted the plethora of first-place finishes by the Quakers, as he provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in the triple jump with a first place leap of 15.69 meters. According to Penn coach Nathan Taylor, Anderson's jump is currently fifth among college athletes in the nation and is second in the Penn record books. Up-and-coming Penn freshman Tuan Wreh was slightly overshadowed by Anderson, but he did help the team out by finishing third in the triple jump. Anderson, who is also trying to reach the next plateau in the high jump, will now work on improving his mark in the triple jump to secure a spot at the NCAAs. Anderson won the high jump with a jump of 6'9", the same height that he has hit consistently throughout the season. Penn freshman Chung-yi Sun contributed to the team's win with a victory in the 55 meter dash. Sun was one of several freshmen to improve his performance at this meet. "Across the board we were better," Taylor said. "We were more focused. Some of the guys experienced some of their limitations, [and] discovered more of the things they need to work on." Taylor added that he was extremely pleased with Anderson's performance, but he felt that the middle distance runners and the pole vaulters could have done better. The dismal showing by most of the vaulters was nonetheless highlighted by the first-place finish by Penn sophomore Luke Stokes. To end the meet, the Quakers relay team of Darryl Olczak, Terrance Whitehead, Craig Douglas and Mike Aguilar won the 4x400-meter relay event as their teammates cheered them on. "It really felt good to be back running again with the team," said Olczak, who competed in his first meet of the season. "I was really happy with my performance -- I was happy with everyone's performance. We got a lot of stuff off our back at this meet." Whitehead made up for a poor performance in the 400-meter race by running hard in the relay. His 400-meter time was worse than usual because he wasn't feeling well before the event. "When I got the baton, I knew we were going to win," Aguilar said. "It was a strategic race." The Quakers can use the good performance at Cornell to build on as the season progresses. "I think we look at all these meets as quizzes -- to get an idea of where we are," Taylor said. "Every quiz builds on the previous one as it builds towards the final exam -- the Heps."