M. Track hobbled by injuries at IC4As

Despite injuries to its top two members, the Penn men's indoor track team had three top-10 finishers at last weekend's IC4A Championships in Boston. A hamstring injury hampered Penn junior Tuan Wreh, who did not fare well in the triple jump. And ophomore 800-meter standout Sam Burley did not compete at all due to injury. For the rest of the Quakers, fatigue was a factor coming off the team's second-place finish at Heptagonal Championships on February 24-25. "It's hard to come back after such an emotional performance," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "We had a few injuries and were just drained." Penn junior O'Neil Bryan had the best day for the Quakers, finishing seventh in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.14 seconds. Bryan won the event at Heptagonal Championships with a time that was .02 seconds faster. Penn sophomore Brian Abram, also a winner at Heps, finished eighth in the 500 with a time of 1:04.55. Also taking eighth place was Quakers senior Bryan Kovalsky, who finished the 3,000 in a time of 8:27.79. "I was happy with our top-10 finishers," Powell said. "They were able to compete with some of the top kids in the nation." Other Quakers who turned in strong performances were junior Gene Sun, whose 7.04 time in the 60-meter dash just missed placing him in the finals, and freshman Joe Plevelich, who ran a personal best in the 800 but was disqualified for stepping out of his lane. In the team scoring, which was won by Penn State, the Red and Blue were left out in the cold. They finished a dismal 43rd, tied with Buffalo. Ivy champ Princeton finished fourth, and Brown, whom Penn beat by four points at Heps, finished ninth. "I'm happy some of the other Ivy teams did really well," Powell said. "That reflects well on our conference." The NCAA National Championships take place next weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Burley qualified in the 800, but will most likely not run due to a possible stress fracture. "I'd rather rest him and only lose him for two weeks now, then lose him for six weeks in the future," Powell said. The Quakers now have a slight break to rest up and heal before the start of the outdoor track season. Their first outdoor competition is the Quaker Invitational on March 24 at Franklin Field.

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