Youthful W. Track ready to open at Brown

the Quakers, who lost 13 seniors to graduation, will rely to a greater extend on underclassmen this season. The Penn women's track and field team will travel to Brown this Saturday to compete in the first indoor meet of the season. The Quakers will need to perform well from the get-go if their 1999-2000 campaign is to be successful. The team, which lost 13 seniors to graduation last year, is young and fairly inexperienced. This means that many freshmen and sophomores will have to perform if Penn is to have a successful season. "We lost many runners who will be very difficult to replace," assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "But we think that our young runners are ready." The squad has been training since early September. The Quakers hope this will mean that the young runners have had enough time to make the transition to college track and field. "This meet should let us see exactly how we are doing," junior Bassey Adjah said. "We have been training for a while, so it will be great to finally compete." Competing in the meet this Saturday will be six other teams, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Brown, the defending Ivy League champion. "We know we are competing against some good teams," Tenisci said. "But it is everyone's first meet, so anything could happen." Many members of the Penn team will be competing at the collegiate level for the first time. One concern for the Quakers is whether or not the young runners will be able to deal with the pressure of an actual meet. "I really think that the freshmen are ready for the meet," junior Melissa MacIntyre said. "Because we have so many freshmen, they don't feel left out at all and I think that has helped them." Although many of Penn's young runners will have to perform well early if the Quakers are to succeed, the squad will also rely on the experience of key upperclassmen. Captains Richelle Clements, Ruthie Neuhaus and JaJuan Gair will provide leadership. Their job will be to not only perform, but to provide guidance and advice to the young runners as they make the jump to collegiate competition. "The first meet is always tough for freshmen," Tenisci said. "In college, everyone has credentials and everyone is talented, that is hard to get used to." Penn's team will feature two Heptagonal champions from a year ago. Junior Ami Desai will be looking to repeat her championship in the pole vault, while Bassey Adjah -- another junior -- will try to garner a second consecutive victory in the long jump. Desai holds Penn's indoor record in the pole vault at 10'11.7'', while Adjah has an indoor personal record of 18'5'' in the long jump. Clements should lead the squad's sprint team. She had a successful 1999, placing third in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200 at Outdoor Heps while running a leg on Penn's school-record breaking 4x100 meter relay team. Juniors Gair, Adjah and MacIntyre will form the nucleus of a strong contingent of hurdlers. The Quakers hope that freshmen Kai Gonsorowski and Crystal Marsh will add versatility and talent to those events. The middle distance runners will be led by sophomores Jeraldine Cofie and Samantha Desposito. This duo of talented runners should provide inspiration to a number of promising freshmen, as well as to Phillips, Mercy Okoye and Karen Thomas. The Quakers' jumping squad will be led by Adjah, Neuhaus and MacIntyre. Neuhaus has an indoor PR of 39'4.5'' in the triple jump, while MacIntyre has long jumped 18'0.25'' indoors. These explosive athletes should continue to compete well for Penn. The deep and talented throwing squad will also be an essential part of the team. Juniors Monica Maccani, Amy Nichols and Yinko Orifidiya will be counted on to provide strong leadership. "This is really a gauge meet for us," Tenisci said. "This should give us a good idea of where we are and what we need to do."

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