W. Track relay speeds by field as Quakers land in third spot

The Penn women's track team fared well in Delaware, finishing third behind Maryland and Navy. With the busiest part of the season straight ahead, the Penn women's indoor track team headed to Newark, Del., this past weekend to face Delaware and three other teams in an invitational meet. The meet, held at the Delaware Fieldhouse, was the second meet of the still-young indoor season. The Quakers must hit their stride quickly, however, as they may compete in each of the next seven weekends, depending on whether or not they qualify for ECAC and NCAA Championships. The University of Maryland won the meet, easily beating Navy, which finished second. The Quakers ended up in third, behind the Terps and the Midshipmen. Penn's lone victory in the meet came in the 4x800-meter relay. Karen Thomas, Mercy Okoye, Laura Phillips and Lauren Avallone easily outran the competition, finishing in 9:44, more than five seconds faster than the second-place team. "We are really happy with the performance," Okoye said. "But it is still really early in the season and we have a lot of work to do." The pole vault was another strong event for the Quakers, who placed Liz Wittels in second place and Ami Desai in third. Desai was coming off a strong showing at Yale the previous week. There, she set a Penn record with a vault of 11' 1 3/4". "Ami has been doing really well for us," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "If she keeps improving like she has been, she should be in great shape." Penn's most balanced event had to be the 800. The Quakers were able to place four runners in the top seven, led by Thomas, who finished second, and Okoye, who finished third. One possible weak spot for the Quakers seems to be the distance events. Penn was unable to place anyone in the top 10 in the 3,000 or 5,000. Tenisci believes the squad's inexperience is a major factor. "You have to remember that we have so much youth on our squad," Tenisci said. "We have made a lot of progress, but we are still a pretty young and inexperienced team." The fact that the Red and Blue are so young means that the upperclassmen have even more pressure on them to perform. "I think our upperclassmen are doing a really solid job," Tenisci said. "They are helping the freshmen to progress and to realize what it takes to succeed at this level." One concern for the Quakers is how the team will handle the brutal upcoming schedule, especially after the long holiday break. "The important thing is to make sure we stay focused," junior Melissa MacIntyre said. "With so many meets and such a long season, it can be hard to give your best effort every week." Okoye believes the Quakers are on pace for some strong showings later in the season. "It is still really early," she said. "We have so many young runners, and we are just barely getting into the swing of things. "I'm sure the freshmen will continue to learn and we will keep improving as a team." Penn's next meet will be in Ithaca, N.Y., at the Cornell Invitational this Saturday. On February 5, Penn will head to Princeton to compete against both the Tigers and Delaware. "We are looking forward to our dual meet at Princeton," Tenisci said. "When you are just competing against one team, everyone has to step up and perform because there is nowhere to hide. We should learn a lot about our team at that meet." The goal for the team in the next few meets is to continue to improve and to get tuned up for the meet at Old Nassau. "We really feel like we are getting in better shape and learning a lot in each meet," Tenisci said. "We should be ready for our big meets in the upcoming weeks."