M. Track travels to BU

The Quakers wrap up their regular season at the St. Valentine Invitational. The Penn men's track team is headed down the homestretch of its indoor season, and the Quakers know just how important their finishing kick will be. A strong regular season finale is of utmost importance to the Quakers, who head to Boston University this Saturday for their final meet before the Heptagonal Championships in two weeks. The Red and Blue have viewed each prior meet this winter as a stepping-stone to what they hope will culminate in a Heps title. And the last of those steps will be taken tomorrow at the St. Valentine's Classic. A healthy mindset would, of course, be beneficial to Penn's talented athletes, but the Quakers hesitate to put a lot of stock in any possible carry-over effect. They learned a valuable lesson at this very same point a year ago. "Last year, we fared very well at Boston," junior Mike Aguilar said. "And then at Heps we ended up in the bottom third of the league." With this firmly entrenched in their minds, Penn strives to maintain an even keel for this final tune-up. "You treat everything as if nothing has changed," said Aguilar, who added that the coaching staff has successfully preached that philosophy all year long. The Quakers do have reason to be confident as they travel to New England tomorrow. For starters, Penn is well accustomed to Boston University's facility and has enjoyed more success there than at Manhattan and Delaware, the sites of the Quakers' past two competitions. "Delaware, for some reason, seems to be a curse," Aguilar said. The Quakers are also well aware that, despite hesitating to believe in any sort of carry-over impact, just one really strong outing can propel them straight through the rest of this short season. "Once you hit that one meet where everything starts clicking, you can steamroll through," sophomore distance runner Matt Caporaletti said. Penn already knows it has the ability to compete with any other team out there physically. "We've believed all along that we have the talent to contend," Caporaletti said. And as if there was not enough incentive to perform well tomorrow, many Penn athletes are still searching for IC4A qualifying marks. It is possible to gain a berth while at Heps as well, but some Quakers will lose that opportunity, since they will not compete in the league championship. Caporaletti may best sum up the sentiment of the team. "The general feeling has been that now is the time we really need to focus," he said. The coaches have communicated the importance of level-headedness, and this approach should serve the Quakers well as they now enter the critical part of the season that they have been working toward since day one.