Star M.X-Country seniors to race at Nationals today

Penn seniors Scott Clayton and Sean MacMillan will run in the NCAA Championships today. Scott Clayton and Sean MacMillan have preached the standard captain mantra -- "team over the individual"-- all season long, but today the limelight will be squarely on them. Although the Penn men's cross-country team failed to qualify for the NCAAs at last week's District 2 Championships at Lehigh, its two star seniors secured invitations with sterling individual performances. At last Saturday's competition in Bethlehem, Pa., Clayton placed third overall, while his co-captain and best friend MacMillan finished eighth in the 178-man field. Clayton and MacMillan were the second and third finishers among those runners whose teams did not qualify for nationals, held today at Indiana University. The Quakers have several advantages in their quest to end their final fall season in a hilly, 10-kilometer long blaze of glory. For starters, the initial criticism that this year's Penn squad is overly top-heavy has now turned into a rallying point. While an inconsistent pack at the third through seventh spots this season frequently compromised Penn's team score, Clayton and MacMillan will not have to look back over their shoulders today. Destiny rests in their own legs, as they are free to concentrate solely on their own performances. Added to that are some external conditions -- the temperature come race time in Bloomington, Ind., is expected to approach 70 degrees. This could play a role in the race, since the Quakers have felt an edge in previous races that were held in unseasonable warmth. The duo believes it might slow down runners from some of the extreme northern or New England schools that haven't experienced such temperatures in months. Also, Clayton and MacMillan view themselves as mainly "long-distance runners." While all regular-season courses spanned five miles, the championship layouts all cover 6 1/4 miles, another benefit for the two Quakers. This advantage was clearly evident last week on Lehigh's infamously hilly course -- which is the full 10 kilometers (6 1/4 miles) in length. The two Penn captains handled it with ease, nearly beating out the entire pack. Because the captains had never before visited the Indiana course, they flew with Penn coach Charlie Powell to Bloomington a day earlier than usual. By leaving on Saturday, the runners were able to take test runs on both days this weekend. While Clayton, MacMillan and Powell could not be reached in Indiana, each refused last week to make predictions on the outcome of the race.