M. Track shines in Raleigh

After a disappointing outing at the indoor Heptagonal Championships in February, the Penn men's track team cited a lack of focus as a major problem. There have been no signs of a relapse into that lack of concentration so far in the young outdoor season. Though neither of Penn's two meets have been officially scored, the Quakers followed up a very solid performance at the Quaker Invitational a week ago with an even more impressive effort at the Raleigh Relays, held on Friday and Saturday. Despite the lack of official scoring, the Quakers know exactly where they stand after these first two meets. "We had a lot of people who had really good performances," senior thrower Brent Stiles said. Just as was the case at the Quaker Invitational, it was the throwers who led the way for Penn. Also in line with last week, it was freshman Brian Chaput and the javelin unit who did a good bunch of the damage. It may not be considered much of a feat at first glance that Chaput established a personal record in just his second career meet. But the first throw of his career qualified the Penn freshman for an automatic berth at nationals, so topping that mark is worth noting. And he did top that mark, as Chaput threw the javelin 223'07", beating his first-week distance by a foot and a half. The East Haven, Conn., native says he has trained extremely hard in an extended offseason by track and field standards since the javelin is not thrown during the indoor season. "It's almost like being locked up," Chaput said of the time off. "They're letting us out of our cages, and now we're attacking." The rest of the javelin squad -- certainly one of Penn's deepest groups -- also had a good showing. Sophomore Chris Crisman placed 10th with a distance of 187'04", and junior Seth Beaver finished 13th, throwing 183'01". To round out the impressive performance of the throwers, Stiles came in seventh place in the meet with the shot put with a mark of 51'06", while senior Matt Pagliasotti finished fourth in the hammer throw (192'11"). "We have six guys that are quality throwers," said Chaput, who credited Pagliasotti and ex-Penn star John Taylor for helping him achieve much of his success. Ironically, it is Taylor's 237' mark in the javelin that stands precariously alone above Chaput's in the Quaker record books. "The young guys are starting to really understand what it takes to succeed on the collegiate level," Stiles said. Another young competitor who was successful over the weekend was freshman jumper David Arundel, who won the high jump with a height of 7' 1/4", also qualifying him for IC4As. With such a promising start, especially among many of its younger athletes, Penn remains very optimistic. "I'm really fired up about the rest of the season," Chaput said.

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