Individuals dominate for W. Track

It was Ivy League dominance last weekend at the Cornell Invitational as the Penn and Cornell women's track teams pulled away from the competition to finish first and second, respectively, in the five-team field.

While the Quakers finished second with 133.33 points, host Cornell blew away the competition, winning 13 individual events, and ended the meet with 303 points.

"I think we did a great job," Penn coach Tony Tenisci said about his team's performance. "We had limited numbers, and Cornell had everyone -- they went six deep at every position.

"The kids just did very well. It was 35 against 75; that's why the score looks like that."

Despite losing to Cornell, the Quakers posted a formidable composite score. The Red and Blue's final total came as the result of a slew of record-setting personal efforts.

Penn sophomore Tonia Sabino recorded a personal record in the 20 pound weight with a 15.41 meter toss. She followed that effort with another individual record in the shot put in what Tenisci called "the meet of her life."

Sophomore Caroline Rebello made her own high water mark capturing the pole vault, with an ECAC qualifying height of 3.45 meters.

"It felt good," Rebello said. "It definitely [exceeded my expectations]. I just expected to jump, not jump high."

The Quakers also had three runners-up at the Invitational. Sophomores Elaina Lord and Grace Maloney finished second in the 5000 meter run and high jump, respectively.

The 4x400 relay team completed the trio of second-place finishers.

The Red and Blue also fared well in the 60 meter hurdles with sophomores Michelle Hart and Kai Ivory finishing third and fourth.

"[Michelle and I] train hard together, so we're glad it shows up in the meets," Ivory said. "I was really happy [with my performance].

"I feel that's where I need to be at this point in the season."

Other third place finishes belonged to junior Petra Stewart in the 400 meters, senior Jeraldine Cofie in the 800 and junior Megan Moran in the triple jump.

Stewart and Cofie, who normally participate in shorter distance events, were pleased with their finishes.

The strong individual performances accumulated to make a dramatic improvement over last week's fourth- place finish at the Delaware Invitational.

Such success this early in the season bodes well for Penn.

Next week, the Quakers head to the Penn State Invitational where they will encounter some of the top teams from around the nation.

Although the weekend will be challenging, the Red and Blue expect to learn substantially from the top-caliber competition.

"It's called the National Meet because it has very high standards," Tenisci said. "We're looking for the experience of competing against some of the best teams and running on a high quality track."

Tenisci also looks at the event in Happy Valley as a chance for the Quakers to post formidable times for the Heptagonal Championships -- the capstone event held back in Ithaca, N.Y,. at the end of February.

"It's one of the finest tracks in the country," he said. "We're also hoping to get high qualifying times for the Heptagonal Championships."

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