Cornell too tough for W. Track

The Penn women's track team knew it had a great hurdle to climb facing the defending Ivy champions on their home track in Ithaca, N.Y.

Suffice to say, the Quakers -- finishing on the shortend of a 116-46 score -- couldn't overcome the obstacle.

Despite the disappointing score, the Quakers had five victories and a slew of personal records.

Penn senior Jeraldine Cofie won the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.51 which qualified her for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships in England this summer. Additonally, her shining time put her fourth on Penn's all time outdoors records list for this event.

Penn's Susan Eisenberg won the 200m race with a time of 26.96.

But much ike they have shown this season, the Quakers proved to be stronger in the field than on the track.

Junior Julie Siebert-Johnson won the javelin with a measurement of 143'11 and was followed by sophomore Kaiulani Ivory who placed second with a 131'00.

The Quakers' Samantha Crook placed first in the pole vault with overcoming a height of 11'9".75. This mark was high enough to place her in second place on Penn's all-time records list for this event. She was followed by sophomores Caroline Rebello and Ingrid Gustafson, who placed second and third respectively.

Megan Moran also dominated the triple jump, claiming first with a jump of 38 feet.

A lot rode on the Quakers' performances this past weekend, including qualification for ECACs.

And while the Red and Blue were handily defeated, the addition of three athletes to Penn's all -time lists is impressive.

Still, the Quakers are certainly disappointed that they weren't able to offer stiffer competition to the Big Red in a meet that Penn coach Tony Tenisci hyped as the battle "for England" two weeks ago.

By virtue of its win Cornell will be able to take extra players to the Penn-Cornell quadrennial exchange with British foes Oxford and Cambridge.

But before the Quakers can think about going overseas, they must first concentrate on the remaining meets this season.

First up on Penn's list is this week's Penn Relays. Undoubtedly one of the greater and more influential spectacles in college sports, the modern Olympics -- according to Tenisci -- trace their roots to none other than the Relays.

"In the sport of track and field it is the great mother of invention," Tenisci said. "So many things that were first done here at Penn were incorporated into all the models."

But the Relays are not just about innovation. Not by a long shot.

"It is one of the greatest sporting events in the world," Tenisci said.

And being such a dynamic event, earning first place in any Realys race carries with it a feeling that seems unparalleled for any track and field athlete.

"I had a parent of one of the competing runners tell me that the two greatest moments in his life were the birth of his child and his Penn Relays medal," Tenisci said.

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