W. Track takes first place in four events

The Penn's women's track team continued its recent success and outshined its competition at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational at Franklin Field on Saturday. The Red and Blue dominated in their third outdoor meet of the season and recorded four first-place finishes against a field of 14 teams. Penn coach Betty Costanza called the competition "very good." However, the teams, including Rutgers, Temple, La Salle, Delaware State, Princeton and Villanova, were no match for the strength of the Quakers' hurdle, jump and sprint squads. Juniors Jajuan Gair (13.98) and Bassey Adjah (14.10) captured first and second place, respectively, in the 100-meter high hurdles. In addition to setting personal records in the event, the times set by Gair and Adjah qualified them both for the ECAC Championships on May 27-29. The strong performances of of junior Jen Thompson and senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus also earned them places at the ECACs. Thompson and Neuhaus held down both first and second place, respectively, Saturday afternoon in the triple jump competition. Freshman Meredith Bunche added to Penn's domination with a fifth-place finish in the event. The women concluded the meet by stealing a victory in the 4x400 relay. Sophomore Melissa MacIntyre, Adjah, sophomore Jeraldine Cofie and freshman anchor Petra Stewart ran a near flawless race to win the event. Their performance, as well as that of the 4x100 relay team, also earned them a berth at the ECACs in Princeton, N.J. Further burying the competition was Adjah's personal-record-setting measure of 5.77 meters in the long jump. Her closest competitor was Latisha Conte of Delaware State, who finished a full six inches behind Adjah. Penn's Melissa MacIntyre and Bunche finished third and fifth, respectively, in the event. That means that, of the top 10 finishers in the long jump and the triple jump, a total of six were Penn athletes. This weekend, the Red and Blue will face a healthy serving of Ancient Eight competition in New Haven, Conn., in a tri-meet in which they will face both Yale and Princeton. Costanza maintains that the competition will be tough because Yale shares many of the same strengths as the young Quakers squad. The sprints, jumps and hurdles will prove to be deciding factors once again. Though the Penn team is very young this year, its successes throughout the outdoor season have been roundly promising. All this success has come following the loss of 13 top seniors and the frustrations of a disappointing last-place Heps finish in the indoor season. But the Quakers are not looking back. Senior captain Richelle Clements, who placed fourth in a field of over 40 competitors in the 200, attributes the recent success of the team to the responsibility assumed by the team's three seniors. And as the entire team has shined as of late, the senior leadership has been naturally pleased. "It has been especially fun to watch the young talent [on the team] mature," Clements said. With only two meets left before the Penn Relays, the Quakers are happy with their improvement and are keeping their expectations high. "And we can only get better," Adjah said.