W. Track opens season with style

Coming off of a cross country campaign riddled with injuries and disappointments, the Penn women's track team traveled to Brown this weekend and has given hope to the indoor season. The extremely young -- but talented -- Penn squad competed admirably in the Alden Invitational, finishing with one first-place finish and five second-place finishes out of the 16 events. Jeraldine Cofie turned in Penn's top performance, winning the 500-meter run. Her time of 1:17.73 was good enough to take home the crown. "This was a really good opener for us," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "We had some really good performances and it is great to get this first meet under our belt after weeks of just practicing." This initial meet was especially important for the Quakers because it was the first collegiate meet for Penn's many freshmen. "I think nerves played a factor with our younger runners," Tenisci said. "But I definitely think we gained some maturity from this meet." A lack of experience on Penn's part was surely the cause of some of the nervousness. This was further compounded by the fact that the Quakers faced some stiff competition, which included Massachusetts, Connecticut and defending Ivy League champion Brown. "I think it works out well for our team that we have so many freshmen," Penn freshman Dennean Davis said. "Because we have so many freshmen, we feel really comfortable. We don't really feel like we are the lower class." Davis opened up her collegiate career with a stellar performance in the long jump. She placed second overall in the event and achieved a new personal best of 17'9.5"in the process. "Dennean had a great meet and that was a real nice surprise," Tenisci said. "She is a very promising athlete." Although this Penn squad features many exciting young runners, the key to its success lies in the performance of the upperclassmen. Co-captains JaJuan Gair and Ruthie Neuhaus turned in solid efforts for the team. Neuhaus finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 38'5", while Gair finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles as well as eighth in the 55-meter dash. "I was really happy with my meet," Neuhaus said. "I opened the season up well and things can only improve from here." Neuhaus' performance was good enough to qualify her for the ECAC Championships held at the end of the season. "That was definitely the best that Ruthie has ever opened her season," Tenisci said. "It is great that she came out and qualified for the ECACs in her first meet." Mercy Okoye and Qianna Snooks also logged impressive performances for the Quakers, finishing second in the 800 and 300, respectively. Junior Ami Desai was another bright spot for the squad, finishing second in the pole vault. Her mark of 10'6" was a mere six inches from winning the event. "We really feel like this was just a strong overall opening meet," Tenisci said. "We saw a lot of good things and showed that we have a lot of promising athletes." Next up for the team is a modified meet at Princeton this weekend. This means that the Quakers will have fewer athletes competing in the much smaller field. The entire team will return to action on January 8 at Yale.