Wittels sets pole vault record

For the Penn women's track team, a trip to New York in late January, ironically enough, means a chance to escape the bitter cold. The Quakers, who are forced to practice outdoors due to a lack of indoor facilities, headed to Manhattan College, which in a similarly ironic twist, is located in the Bronx, this past weekend to compete in the Jasper Relays. The highlight of the meet for Penn was definitely sophomore Liz Wittels, who set a school indoor record in the pole vault with a leap of 11' 3 3/4". Wittels, who finished second in the event, broke current Penn sophomore Ami Desai's former mark of 11' 1 3/4". "Liz was wonderful in this meet," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "She definitely had a great performance, and we are really proud of her." Another strong performance was turned in by senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus. Her distance of 11.5 meters in the triple jump was good for third place. "I am happy with the meet because I feel like I'm going in a positive direction," Neuhaus said. "This gives me something to build on for the rest of the season." The Quakers held their own against some fierce competition in the high jump. Sophomore Brandi Spencer led Penn with a fifth-place finish. Freshman Kai Gonsorowski, who is also a member of the Penn volleyball team, had a solid performance in the event as well, finishing right behind Spencer in sixth place. Although Penn had some impressive performances in the meet, the Quakers struggled in several areas. Penn was unable to place in the top five in the shot put and finished a disappointing seventh in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:00.96. The Red and Blue did, however, see some strong performances by their freshmen. Quakers freshman Alexandra Bliss's fifth-place finish in the 500 and Gonsorowski's performance bode well for the future of the team. "A lot of us are starting to perform better," Bliss said. "We just need to keep working hard because eventually we will become the core of the team." One major problem for the Quakers has been the lack of indoor practice facilities. This has forced the team to do all its conditioning in the frigid January air. "It is really tough to practice in this weather, but our kids are being really brave," Tenisci said. "When most people don't even want to walk to class, you should try running in this every day." Due to the inclement weather, Penn could not effectively work on sprinting. Because of this, the Quakers have been forced to work on speed primarily in a tournament setting. "It is definitely hard with this cold and all of the snow," Neuhaus said. "We try to do workouts so we can build up our strength, but the weather makes it a lot tougher." Next up for Penn is a critical meet at Princeton against the Tigers and Delaware on February 5. With the Heptagonal Championships in late February, the Quakers will look to shift into high gear for the season's most crucial period. "This meet should be a great opportunity for us to see where we are and compete against a team that will be at championships," Neuhaus said. "The most important thing for us is to peak at the right time."

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