M. X-Country banking on seniors to set the pace in '99

Unquestionably, the key to the season for the Penn men's cross country team lies in its senior leadership. "We have three very good seniors on the team," Quakers coach Charlie Powell said. "[Co-captains] Scott Clayton and Sean MacMillan are two of the best runners in the country and Mark Granshaw just won the first race for us at Lafayette." While Powell's praise may be optimistic, Clayton and MacMillan are both very strong runners for the Ivy League. Although they were absent from competition at Saturday's Lafayette Invitational, the Quakers still managed to take four of the top 11 places en route to defeating the host Leopards by 19 points. While the teams at Lafayette aren't quite the same caliber opponent that Penn will see at the Heptagonal Championships or the IC4As, the fact that Granshaw's victory is the first cross-country win by any current Penn runner is nevertheless encouraging. And, if the lofty goals the Quakers have set for the upcoming season are any indication, consider them encouraged. "We are shooting for a top-three finish at Heps, and a top-three finish at regionals, which would hopefully be good enough to qualify for nationals," said Clayton, who earned second-team All-Ivy honors at Heps last year. The Heptagonal Championships, to be held in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on October 29, will see the Quakers match up against the seven other Ivy League schools and Navy. Last year, the Quakers finished sixth with 185 points, five places behind Princeton, which won the event with 46 points. The Quakers have a longer climb if they hope to meet their goal of a top-three finish at the NCAA District II Regional Championships, which will be held at Lehigh in November. Last year, the Red and Blue finished with 400 points, good enough to finish 14th out of 25 teams, but again well back of the Tigers, who won the event with 54 points. In addition to the leadership triumvirate of seniors, the Quakers return another upperclassman in junior Bryan Kovalsky, who missed last season due to injury. "It's nice to have him back," Powell said. "Now if we can just keep him healthy." Kovalsky had leg problems last year,which prevented him from running as many miles as he needed to in order to keep in top shape. Sophomores Anthony Ragucci and Matt Gioffre, who are expected to make big strides this season, round out what Powell considers to be "the core" of this cross-country squad. Ragucci suffered stress fractures last season, which hampered his performance and his ability to train. While heavy on experience, the Quakers also look to get a shot in the arm from talented freshman Anthony Sager, who finished 11th at Lafayette. Powell, while not willing to specify the goals he has set for the team, or where he expects the Quakers to finish, was extremely confident in the squad's ability and seemed eager to "let them go at it." "We're going to have a challenging program, one of the better Division I programs in the country," he said. When asked about difficult opponents, Powell was equally confident, maintaining a take-all-comers attitude. "We're just going to go to the best meets and find out [who the best teams in the country are]." Powell is also happy about the travel schedule the Quakers face this season, which is a lot less hectic than in years past. The farthest the Quakers travel this year will be to Annapolis, Md., this weekend to take on Navy. "There's not as much traveling as in the past," Powell said. "Which means there will be a lot less fatigue from hanging around in airports."