W. Track meets first Ivy competition at U of p Invitational

As April rolls around, the color green becomes increasingly prevalent. But green is not only the color of spring -- it is the color of Ivy. And just as spring is fast appearing, the Penn women's track team faces its first Ivy foe of the season. At the University of Pennsylvania Invitational tomorrow, the Quakers welcome several quality teams, including Ivy rival Cornell. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and no precipitation is in the forecast for tomorrow at the U of P Invite. The meet, which will begin at 10 a.m. at Franklin Field, should be Penn's first outdoor meet without cold and windy conditions. "We're hoping that we stay dry and warm, or at least not cold," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "Nothing happens when it's cold. People tighten up, everyone gets depressed. Cold weather is just less conducive to performance." The U of P Invite is traditionally a very competitive meet with a plethora of Pennsylvania schools -- including Kutztown, St. Joseph's and Penn State. No Penn athletes will have an easy meet individually, either. Quakers captain Jessica Mitchell will be facing a pair of strong Cornell seniors, Jessica Shaw and Christine Groneman, in the 800 meter run. "I beat both of them indoors at Heps but they have both beaten me before," Mitchell said. Shaw, a second-team All-Ivy performer last year in the 800, has a personal record of 2:08.7, while Groneman has run a 2:09.7. Mitchell ran a 2:11.76 last weekend at the Raleigh Relays. "It was my best performance so far this year," Mitchell said. "I came within a second of my PR [2:10] which I haven't seen for a year and a half." Senior distance runner Rita Garber also faces a tough opponent tomorrow in Cornell's Emily Germano. The Big Red junior took first in both the 3000 and the 5000 at the indoor Heps. She ran a 17:09 in the 5000 -- 23 seconds ahead of fourth-place Garber -- but her 3000 was only five seconds faster than the Penn captain. While Germano's 5000 time last Saturday for Cornell in a quadrangular meet at UC Irvine increased by 13 seconds to 17:22, Garber has improved her 3000 time from Heps. She ran a 9:55.75 in Ithaca at Heps, but finished in 9:54.61 last weekend at Raleigh. Cornell will be a primary team focus for Penn on Saturday, but Penn State might be Penn's toughest competition. The Nittany Lions competed at the Raleigh Relays as well last weekend. They had three top 10 finishers, while the Quakers had five place in the top 10. One of these three top place winners was long jumper Shakeema Walker, a senior from Philadelphia. Walker finished third in Raleigh, as her jump (19'9'') was more than seven inches further than that of Penn's Bassey Adjah (19'1.5''). "She's very tall and has long legs," Adjah said. "I use my speed for my jumps while she uses her whole body." Adjah cleared 19 feet for the first time ever last Friday after a week off from long jumping. Her coaches have tried the same tactics this week, believing that the way for her to improve in the long jump is to work on running. "I use my speed down the runway to jump," Adjah said. "I do mostly running to improve my jumping." Cornell sophomore Karen Chastain placed in all four throwing events last weekend, but the Quakers don't look to pose a challenge to her. Penn's throwers have struggled throughout this outdoor season. "The technical events take a little more time," Tenisci said. "And the intermediate hurdles, hammer throw, javelin and discus are not done indoors. These people have had the shortest time to prepare." The competition tomorrow will not be quite as strong as that which Penn faced in Raleigh, but the Quakers are looking forward to measuring themselves against an Ivy League foe. "It's gonna definitely be good for us to see some Ivy before Heps," Penn's Ja Juan Gair said.

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