M. Track set for outdoor campaign

Fresh off the indoor season, Penn sophomore hurdler Matt Wedge and his men's track teammates will head to the starting line of the outdoor season -- the Quaker Invitational.

During the Sunday competition at Franklin Field, the name of the game will be transition.

"It's a bit of a difference whenever you go from indoors to outdoors," Wedge, who competes in the 110 meter hurdles, said. "It's a bit of a different perspective in the hurdles just for being indoor to outdoor, and the track surface is also a little different.

"In outdoor, wind is a big factor."

The Invite is a local affair, featuring 12 regional teams, including Temple and St. Joseph's.

The Hawks' season concluded last month with a second place finish in the Atlantic-10 indoor championships, while the Owls placed sixth.

St. Joe's boasts distance runner Brian Rosetti, who claimed honors at the A-10 championships as the Most Outstanding track performer. He won the mile in 4:11.24, and contributed to a victory in the distance medley relay, 10:11.21.

The Quakers, however, are concentrating more on the invitational as a whole rather than on individual racers. They hope Sunday can be a springboard of future success.

Penn assistant coach Jamie Cook is confident that his athletes will fare well.

"The outdoor season looks pretty promising," Cook said. "We've got a bunch of good throwers coming out, we've got a couple returning performers in the high jump and a couple of newcomers who should do some damage outdoors."

Cook also said, however, that too much emphasis should not be placed on the results of the invitational.

"It's just the first meet outdoors," he said. "It's not a big meet, it's basically for everybody to get their feet wet."

In addition to the start of a new season, the Red and Blue must shake off the cobwebs of a one-month layoff.

"For the people who didn't compete at IC4As or NCAAs, we've had a two to a three week break," Wedge said. "After Spring Break, we're ready to get back into it."

Senior 400 meter hurdler Chris Hibbard is already looking ahead.

For him, the Quaker Invitational is important primarily because of the following weekend when Penn heads to North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays.

"This Sunday's going to be a little warmup," Hibbard said. "Next weekend is the big weekend, we go down to Raleigh -- the good weather, the good competition."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.