M. Track falls to an old friend

Cornell, coached by a former Quakers assistant, defeated Penn in Ithaca, N.Y. Another week, another second-place finish for the Penn men's track team. This weekend, the Quakers were walking into hostile territory when they went up to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Cornell Invitational. There, Nathan Taylor, a longtime assistant of Penn coach Charlie Powell, was lying in wait to try to best the Quakers. In his first year as the coach of the Big Red, Taylor naturally had big plans for his squad when competing against Penn. The Quakers, meanwhile, viewed the meet as just another step on a road to bigger and better things later in the season -- and maybe a chance to say hello to an old friend. These differing philosophies shone through in the final score, as the Big Red won the meet, 88-74. Taylor was a charter member of Powell's staff twelve years ago. When Taylor accepted the Cornell position last summer, though, he undoubtedly wanted to prove his ability to his mentor. "I think it was important to him and he translated that importance to his team," senior shot putter Brent Stiles said. Consequently, Cornell put forth its full complement of athletes to win Saturday's meet. Penn, conversely, withheld some of its stars with a variety of objectives in mind, not the least of which was preparing for the Heptagonal Championships that are not too far off in the distance. Although some of the Quakers either stayed at home or participated in fewer events than usual, Penn still featured its share of standout performers. Most notably, Penn senior Matt Pagliasotti captured his third 35-pound weight throw title in as many meets -- this time in most impressive fashion. Pagliasotti set an all-time Penn record of 18.76 meters and, in the process, sent the message to the Cornell throwers and to his former coach that he's definitely a favorite to contend for a Heps title this season. Stiles, not to be outdone, also entered the record books when he fired the shot put an even 16 meters, the ninth longest distance in school history. Stiles' effort was good enough to qualify for the IC4As, joining Mike Aguilar and Gene Sun, who also had strong enough performances at Cornell to qualify for the end-of-the-season competition. The versatile Aguilar turned in another tremendous performance this week when he won the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 7.69 seconds. Sun's event was not without controversy, however. He cleanly won the 55-meter dash, but the officials appeared to overlook teammate Stephen Faulk, who had apparently placed second. The officials first indicated that Faulk had not completed the race, but they later determined that he had finished fourth, hurting Penn in the final point tally. The oversight had little impact in the grand scheme of things, though, as Cornell defeated Penn by a 14-point margin. A healthy long-distance corps, on the other hand, could have provided a more potent threat to Cornell. Now, at the height of flu season, much of the squad, with the exception of sophomore Matt Gioffre, was too sick to participate. Stiles does not discount the idea that the runners' long practice hours in the cold may well have contributed to their falling ill. When healthy again, Penn feels it will be a force to be reckoned with, and the talent is certainly in place to enable improvement. "Every year, they're getting better, every season they're getting better. It's a process," Powell said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.