Individuals shine at Cornell for W. Track

Depleted by injuries and with limited travel numbers, the Penn women's track team justified its long trip to Ithaca, N.Y., with several outstanding individual performances this weekend, despite a 93-52 loss to Cornell. Runners Jeraldine Cofie (appendicitis), Kiki Snooks (hamstring) and Petra Stewart (broken hand) were all unable to compete, and so the Red and Blue could not send anybody out for the 200- or the 400-meter dash. In addition, the Quakers were forced to field less than their best in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. But in spite of these shortcomings, the Quakers ran away with a number of first-place finishes and personal bests. "We had the kids doing a really nice job, even though we weren't all healthy," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "We had a busload of our kids who went out there and did the job that they had to do." Getting the job done for Penn, as she has all year, was senior Bassey Adjah, who took first in the long jump and set a new school record in the 100 (11.9 seconds). "Bassey was just out of her mind again," Tenisci said. "She continued to dominate." Also maintaining their dominance for Penn were senior co-captain JaJuan Gair, who won the 100 hurdles in 14.1 seconds, and freshman Caroline Rebello, who took her second consecutive first-place finish in the pole vault. "The conditions weren't that great to jump in because the winds were going every which way," Rebello said. "But we got the points for the team, which is all that matters." Crystal Marsh's 1:04.2 in the 400 hurdles and Julie Siebert-Johnson's 41.22-meter javelin toss were also good for first place this weekend. Additionally, co-captain Monica Maccani bested a long-standing school record with a 149'2" discus throw. This marked a nearly four-foot improvement over the old standard of 145'7". Maccani was pleased with her performance -- "It's something I've been focused on" -- but was even more impressed with the way the team responded in the face of adversity. "Even though we didn't win, the team unity was there, which is a big thing for me as I get ready to finish my senior year," Maccani said. Though the Quakers lost by a sizeable margin, their strong performances and the chance to rehab some injuries proved to be more important than winning the meet. "It's a week before Relays and we have some kids who aren't 100 percent that we have to look after," Tenisci said. "To risk them in a dual meet which doesn't mean anything when it comes to the championship -- it just doesn't make any sense." Thinking ahead and resting some injured athletes may have cost the Quakers a victory, but the positives reaped from the meet far outweighed any score. "You have to be pragmatic as a coach, and we had some key people hurt. To heck with the score," Tenisci said. "When you see the kids that did well, that's more important than the score. We really came out of there with some incredible performances." As the Red and Blue gear up for the carnival atmosphere of the Penn Relays and ultimately the Heptagonal championships, the score from last weekend in Ithaca will be erased and only the outstanding individual placements will linger in their collective memory. "We had a very impressive weekend, but the score doesn't show it," Tenisci said. "But that strong showing is what really should be highlighted."

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