W. Track wins two events, finishes just behind Yale

Penn finished behind the hosts but ahead of Princeton at the three-team meet. The Penn women's track team experienced a wealth of individual highlights en route to a second-place finish at a tri-meet at Yale this past Saturday. The team, which competed against Ivy League rivals Yale and Princeton, had traveled to New Haven with hopes of returning victorious. However, the Quakers fell short and finished 27 points behind Yale with a final total of 62 points. The Quakers reeled in individual victories but were hurt by the lack of points won by the team as a whole. While several team members have been incredibly consistent thus far this spring, the Red and Blue have yet to enjoy a meet where the entire team is clicking on all cylinders. This weekend, the Quakers will resume Ivy League competition in a dual meet against Cornell on Saturday. This meet has added significance for the team members as it is their final competition before the Penn Relays. The team will, however, enjoy a three-week home track advantage for the remainder of the spring season. "[Being on your own track] always gives you extra focus and determination," junior thrower Yinka Orafidiya said. The junior recorded a second-place finish in the hammer throw event with a throw of 40'7". Junior thrower Amy Nichols also tallied second-place points as she set a mark of 133'5" in the discus throw competition. Orafidiya also commented on the team's solid performance in the face of uncooperative weather. "We all could have done better, but we did well under the weather conditions," she said. Saturday's rainy competition did not deter many of Penn's stalwarts. The team was again led this weekend by junior captain Jajuan Gair, who recorded first-place finishes in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 100 dash. Gair managed to set a personal record in the dash with a time of 12.63 seconds, continuing to perform exceptionally. She also shined two weekends ago by taking first-place honors in the 100 high hurdles at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. A strong performances was logged by junior Bassey Adjah, who recorded second-place finishes in both the 100 hurdles and long jump competitions. The strength of the Quakers jump team was further demonstrated on Saturday as senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus finished second in the triple jump and junior Jen Thompson finished third. Both Quakers recorded jumps of 37'10.75". The team's Most Outstanding Freshman from a year ago, Liz Wittels, continued to excel as she tied a school record in the pole vault. Wittels recorded a mark of 12'0", while junior Ami Desai recorded a second-place finish with a vault of 10'0". Despite the many successes of individual athletes, the Red and Blue will look to improve in this weekend's meet. The women will need to do just that as they get closer to the Heptagonal Championships May 13-14 and to the ECACs two weeks later at Princeton. Though it carries its own significance, this weekend's meet will also be the team's final preparation before Penn Relays, and sophomore Jeraldine Cofie stressed the importance of the upcoming meet. "[This weekend's meet] will be very competitive and a good [indicator] of our preparation before Relays and Heps," Cofie said. Cofie has been another of the team's consistent assets as she ran on the winning 4x400 team this past weekend. The quartet, which has changed legs throughout the season, continues to perform exceptionally well. The relay team has yet to finish any place other than first in outdoor competition. The Red and Blue will not dwell on these past successes, however. And though the team continues to have a positive outlook, the Quakers will need to strive for improvements to better their disappointing sixth-place finish at indoor Heps this past winter and to finish their season on a strong note at home.