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Penn senior Yinka Orafidiya finished third in the hammer throw at the Penn Invitational last Sunday. (Theodore Schweitz/DP File Photo)

When the Penn women's track team travels to New Jersey on Saturday, it will have only one thing on its mind -- beating Princeton. The intense rivalry between the Quakers and the Tigers is just as strong on the track as it is in the basketball arena or the football field. "Its pretty fierce," Penn sophomore Meredith Bunche said. "I know in indoor [sports], we go into their stadium and rearrange the chairs to say 'Go Penn.'" "Our meets against Princeton are always intense," Penn senior Jennifer Thompson added. "We always want to come out on top." The Quakers have already beaten Princeton earlier this year during the indoor season. Running outdoors, however, is an entirely different story. "Our team tends to do better outdoors, so we're looking for a strong performance this weekend," Penn freshman pole vaulter Caroline Rebello said. "It's going to be close." The Quakers have focused on becoming healthy recently. Strains and pulled muscles have hampered many of the athletes in the most recent meets. "The people with injuries are really taking care of themselves and trying to preserve themselves for when it really counts -- like this weekend," Bunche said. "Those of us who are healthy are training really hard and those that are injured are laying low and taking it easy and getting ready to build up again." The outdoor season is the end to the squad's year-long season, and, as a result, injuries and fatigue are common. The Quakers are also continuously contending with bad luck from Mother Nature. Penn is hoping to finally get a break in the form of some sunny weather this weekend. To win this weekend, the Quakers must also excel all-around, even in events that aren't normally their strengths. "We're strong where they're weak and they're strong where we're weak," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "Everybody has to contribute and everybody has to rise to the occasion." During practice this week, the Quakers have tried to strengthen the finer points in each event, as the difference between a win and a loss against the Tigers likely won't be much. The Red and Blue will rely on the parts of the squad that have already proven themselves reliable this season. The throwers, jumpers and sprinters will be integral against a Princeton team that is stronger in the middle-distance and distance events. "I think as a team we are stronger than the Princeton team. We just have to go out there and collectively perform to the best of our abilities," Penn senior co-captain JaJuan Gair said. "If we all go out there and do the best that we can, then we can easily beat them." What it all comes down to is that it really doesn't matter how it gets done, the Quakers just want and need to beat Princeton. "The whole idea is just to go there and beat them," Tenisci said. "That's really the bottom line."

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