Trip to Ithaca will test W. Track's mettle

After a tough loss at Princeton that was close all the way, the Penn women's track team does not have much time to lick its Tiger-inflicted wounds. The Quakers head to Ithaca, N.Y., this weekend to compete in a meet at Cornell. The multi-team field will give the Red and Blue a change of pace after their head-to-head against the Tigers. "This is a really big meet for our squad," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "It's always important to be sharp against our Ivy League rivals." A strong showing in this meet could give the Quakers a major boost. With the Heptagonal Championships only two weeks away, they need to prove they can compete against and beat a fellow Ancient Eight combatant, since all eight Ivies will be at the ever-important Heps. "With our practice schedule the way it is, we only have five or six days of hard training before Heps," Tenisci said. "Every practice and obviously every meet is crucial at this point in the season." Hopefully for Penn, the Quakers will be able to build on some of the strong performances they had against Princeton in the narrow 66-61 loss. The top performers of the meet for Penn were junior Bassey Adjah and sophomore Liz Wittels. Adjah won the 55-meter hurdles and the long jump. Wittels broke her own school record in the pole vault on her way to victory in that event. "I think our team is in shape and prepared to do well," Wittels said. "We had a few things go against us at Princeton, so it is really important to have everyone come together in this meet." Against Princeton, Penn gave the 1997 and 1998 Heps indoor champions a great match, eventually succumbing by just five points. "Not winning the meet was frustrating, but we had some good things happen, so we can't knock ourselves too much," junior Melissa MacIntyre said. The success of the Quakers could hinge on how the team's numerous freshmen handle the pressure of this most crucial part of the season. "I think that our freshmen are doing fine and have adjusted really well," Wittels said. "If some of them can even just reach their numbers from high school, we should be in great shape. We have a lot of talented freshmen." All season, the squad's goal has been to hit their peak at the right time -- at Heps. This squad could just be hitting its stride due to cold weather that the team has been forced to brave. Without indoor practice facilities, the team has been forced to do the majority of its preparation in the frigid Philadelphia air, which makes working on speed much more difficult than usual. "The competitions are very important for us," Tenisci said. "We have to work on our speed indoors at these meets because we can't do it during the week. Because of this, our kids tend to get their speed later on in the season." Preparation for bigger meets to come will not be the Quakers only motivation at Cornell. There will be no love lost between these two squads, so there should be a little extra spice on the track in Ithaca. "Cornell really loves to beat Penn, so this is a big meet for them as well as for us," Tenisci said. "They want to go home with the bragging rights that they spanked Penn, and that gives us even more motivation."