M.X-C edges out Villanova

The Quakers beat both 'Nova and La Salle in Fairmount Park this past weekend. A high-pitched sound was emitted fromFairmount Park this weekend, as Penn squeaked out a one-point victory over Villanova to win the La Salle Invitational. The Quakers, who are ranked No. 7 in NCAA District II, vanquished both third-ranked Villanova and fourth-ranked La Salle. "It is nice to beat those two teams considering they're ranked in our district," Penn senior Sean MacMillan said. "It definitely gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season." The Quakers had an impressive showing this weekend, with MacMillan taking first, senior Scott Clayton taking second and sophomore Matt Gioffre taking fifth. "We knew it was going to be close with both the other teams being pretty good," Clayton said. "We were a little better up front." In addition to the three top-five finishes, Penn's squad win was largely dependent on the finishes of other runners as well. "The last half mile we were rolling," sophomore Anthony Ragucci said. "Bryan Kovalsky passed five guys in the last half mile; in the last 200 meters I passed a guy from [George Washington] and moved up one place; [the team] probably would have been third if we hadn't moved up." Although Penn's win this weekend was a booster for the team, the Quakers will face stiff competition later in the season. "At IC4As we'll see some quality teams," Clayton said. "That will be the first time we get to run against Princeton." The competition at Heptagonals, which will consist of the Ivy League plus Navy, will be even stiffer; Princeton, Dartmouth and Columbia all won their meets this weekend, and Penn lost to Navy two weekends ago. But after this win, the Quakers have high hopes for the rest of the season. "Except for Princeton or Georgetown I have to say that we are going to be looked at as an at-large bid [to Nationals]," MacMillan said. "Or [if we] knock off one of those [teams] -- that's our ticket to Nationals." Considering that Penn hasn't been to Nationals as a team since the 1970s, that would be quite a feat. "If you want to be a nationally ranked contender," Penn coach Charlie Powell said, "you have to have six, seven or eight people if, God forbid, some [runners] aren't able to perform at 100 percent." For now, however, the Quakers are enjoying a higher team morale than they had before the victory and are attempting to rest some of their injured team members. "Mark Granshaw, he's been a little under the weather," Powell said. "Kovalsky and Ragucci aren't 100 percent." However, MacMillan believes that the team is on the upswing. "All the little aching injuries are coming and already going," MacMillan said. "That will hopefully be gone by the time it comes to the championship races."