W. Track is second at Del. Invitational

Despite everything -- the rain, the cold practice conditions and the nervous anxiety that comes with competing in only its second meet since winter break -- the Penn women's track team still managed to bring home a second-place finish at the Delaware Invitational. On Saturday the Quakers took a 45-minute bus ride to Newark, Del., and proceeded to outdistance every other school at the meet with the exception of scholarship-heavy Maryland. "We had a really great meet." Quakers assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "Overall, we really showed a lot of depth of field, and I think we got turned around a little bit." Penn, with 167 total points, finished a seemingly distant second behind Maryland's 246 points. However, closer inspection reveals that this meet was really a two-horse race. Delaware finished third with 57 points, 110 behind the Red and Blue. Rider and La Salle brought up the rear with 44 and 41 points, respectively. Tenisci was especially happy with Penn's relatively close finish behind Maryland, as the Quakers took second despite not entering all of the events. "We didn't even have anyone running in the 1,000 or the 3,000 meters," Tenisci said. The Quakers performed well in individual events with four first-place finishes and five seconds. This includes a one-two finish in the shot put by Luana Botelho and Mandy Bennet. Penn also placed very well in the relays, claiming the second, third and fourth spots in the 4x400 meters and the second spot in the 4x800 meter relay. One member of that second-place 4x800 relay team was the Red and Blue's star distance runner, Rita Garber. The senior won the mile with a time of 5:07.21, beating the second-place finisher by nearly five seconds. "I didn't get out aggressively enough," Garber said. "I could've raced better, smarter. I lost some time getting stuck behind people in both my races." Garber wasn't the only Quaker who took home a first-place trophy. Three others -- shot-putter Botelho, pole vaulter Ami Desai and triple jumper Ruth Neuhaus -- all won their respective events. "Everyone really seems to be improving and doing very well for this being only the second meet since break," Neuhaus said. "I was really happy," said Neuhaus, who won her event on her last jump. "I was way behind the board when I took off." One of the Quakers' second-place finishers, JaJuan Gair, a sophomore hurdler, was more critical of her performance. "I've been running 8.3s," said Gair, who netted second place with a time of 9.01. "My times haven't gone down like I've wanted, but I've placed well." Gair was also very confident about the remainder of the season. "We can definitely do better," Gair said of Penn's chances at the Heptagonal Championships, the main event of the indoor track season. "I didn't even run my best last year until Heps."