Host Princeton to test W. Track

Saturday's meet at Old Nassau will provide the Red and Blue with a handy midseason litmus test. With its most crucial meets of the season straight ahead, the Penn women's track team will head to Princeton this weekend and compete in a tri-meet against the Tigers and Delaware. This will be the fifth-straight weekend that the Quakers will be competing in a meet. Depending on whether they qualify for regional and national championships, the Red and Blue could have meets in the next six weekends after this one as well. The meet at Old Nassau will provide the Quakers with a change of pace, as most of their previous competitions have been much larger. Competing in a small field should give Penn an opportunity to see exactly where they stand in relation to Princeton, a team that will also be at the Heptagonal Championships later this month. "We are really looking forward to this meet," Penn asssistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "When you are competing in a small meet everyone has to step up and perform because there is nowhere to hide. We should learn a lot about our team." Penn is coming off of a meet at Manhattan College that gave the Quakers some reasons to be excited. The highlight of the meet for Penn was sophomore Liz Wittels breaking the school record in the pole vault. Wittels' leap of 11' 3 3/4" broke the previous mark of 11' 1 3/4", which was set by teammate Ami Desai earlier this season at Yale. "Liz and Ami are quite a dynamic duo for us in the pole vault," Tenisci said. "They go back and forth all the time and really push each other to succeed." Another bright spot for the Red and Blue last weekend was the effort put forth by the Penn freshmen. High jumper Kai Gonsorowski and sprinter Alexandra Bliss showed with their performances that the Quakers have a lot to look forward to in the years to come. "I was happy with my performance last weekend," said Bliss, who took fifth in the 500 meters. "We are starting to look pretty good and get the hang of things, so hopefully everything will go well at Princeton." Penn's goal for the entire season has been to peak at the right time -- the Heptagonal Championships. Although the team understands the importance of every meet, being ready for Heps has been the team's primary aim. One problem for the Quakers as of late has been the brutal weather that they have been forced to practice in. Without any indoor facilities, the team must do all its preparation in the brutally cold Philadelphia air. "It has been very difficult with all the ice and the cold," Tenisci said. "We just can't seem to catch any breaks." The Quakers have been unable to work on their sprinting in the cold air, so the team uses meets, which are obviously indoors, to fine-tune their speed. "I have just been really proud of how our girls have dealt with the situation," Tenisci said. "We are just trying to keep morale high with the tough conditions we're faced with." It won't get easier for Penn anytime soon. With crucial meets at Cornell and George Mason next on the schedule and the all-important Heps only three weeks away, the squad will probably be spending a lot more time enjoying the Philadelphia weather.