Lehigh a home away from home for Quakers X-C

The Penn men's cross country team is in better shape going into this weekend's Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh than they were at the same time last year, when illness kept several of the team's top runners out of the race completely.

This year, senior Anthony Ragucci and junior Anthony Sager are out for health reasons, but the rest of the team is ready to go.

"The team seems to be coming together really well," Penn senior captain Matt Gioffre said. "I was really happy with the way the race went on Saturday [at the La Salle Invitational "Philly Classic," where Penn took second place]. We already had five guys under 26 minutes, and we're not really in racing shape yet."

Though it's not quite the "home-field advantage" the Quakers enjoyed last weekend at Philadelphia's Belmont Plateau, the upperclassmen on the team are already familiar with the Lehigh course, having raced there every year.

"We'll be fairly well-acquainted with this course," Gioffre said.

The freshmen on the team are not going to be quite as familiar with the surroundings this weekend, but the whole team will head out to Bethlehem, Pa., tomorrow to get to know the course.

"I've heard about the course, and we'll run it the day before," Penn freshman Dusty Lieb said. "I've heard that it's very different [from Belmont]; much flatter."

"It's a very nice course," Gioffre said. "It's not hilly at all. It's mostly grassy fields with rolling small hills. It's pretty easy, and there will be fast times."

This race will be much larger than the La Salle Invitational, which had six schools and about 60 runners. This weekend, the Quakers will run with over 30 other teams. The schools represented at this meet hail from all over the country, but are concentrated in the mid-Atlantic region.

"There will be 200-plus runners this time," Gioffre said. "We'll get some good competition."

Penn's specific goal for this race will be running together. The Quakers freshmen struggled to find their pace in Saturday's race, which was their first real collegiate-level competition, but now that their opening-race jitters have been overcome, they will work on grouping together and running in a pack.

"I was still getting used to the five-mile race," Penn freshman Nolan Tully said. "I didn't find a pace really well."

Overall, the Quakers are working toward the Heptagonal Championships, which will take place at the end of October. They race this weekend, and again the next weekend in Michigan. Penn then has a resting week before Heps.

"We are hoping to be in the top third of the league [at the Heps]," Gioffre said, "which is going to be hard. The Ivy League is the strongest it's been in the last three or four years since I've been here."

The freshmen are optimistic anyway.

Lieb said, "We have a really bright future ahead of us."

The Penn women's cross country team will also be running at the Paul Short Invitational this weekend.

Penn senior captain Sam Desposito, with junior Kristen Koch and sophomore Abbi Gleeson --who won the Philly Classic last weekend -- is hoping to lead the team to continued success, keeping the squad well-paced and together throughout the course.

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