M. Track preps for the Relays at Army Invite

For the Penn men's track team, the future is now.

Saturday was the Quakers' final opportunity to prepare for the two most important team meets of the season -- the Penn Relays and Heptagonal Championships.

The Quakers used Saturday's Army Invitational in West Point, N.Y., as a final tune-up before the Penn Relays, which begins on Thursday at Franklin Field.

Combining for 147.80 points this weekend, the Red and Blue finished second behind host-Army and ahead of Columbia, Fordham, and Binghamton. Some of Penn's best athletes --including Sam Burley, Adam Chubb, Chris Edmonds and Brian Chaput -- did not make the trip, opting to stay home and rest.

Those who did make the trip competed impressively, helping the Quakers grab four first place finishes on the day.

"Thing are looking really good right now," freshman Joel Miller said. The freshman sprinter finished second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.8.

"We are gearing up, getting ready for the big push at Heps. Everything's coming together," he added.

Sophomore Michael Sangobowale had a breakout performance, winning the shotput with a throw of 14.72m for the first time in his career. In the discus, junior Tom vonReichbauer earned second place wit a throw of 46.36m.

For senior Brian Abram, Saturday was supposed to be a monumental day in his esteemed career at Penn. He was hoping to make the regional qualifying time of 52.70 in the 400m hurdles -- an achievement which would have been the first step in seeing his ultimate goal of making nationals come to fruition.

Unfortunately for Abram, his time of 53.15 did not even match his best of the year. But several other factors came into play.

As Miller said, "it was a windy day." Furthermore, Abram had to set the pace himself, as he won the event by nearly a full second.

Luckily for Abram, Saturday was not his last chance. He will get another opportunity to qualify for regionals this weekend at the Penn Relays. He hopes to take full advantage of it.

"I think he's on his way to getting the regional qualifying time," junior Joe Fabiani, who finished 12th in the 1500m, said.

Penn's strong 110m contingent had particularly auspicious showings, taking the first three places in the event. Senior Jared Shoemaker grabbed first place, upsetting his teammate Matt Wedge who has been Penn's most consistent performer in the event throughout the spring.

Senior Mike George finished just behind Shoemaker in second, and Wedge followed in third.

Penn's young distance squad appears to be continually maturing. Despite the prolonged absence of sophomore cross-country all-American Dusty Lieb, several other athletes have emerged, hoping to offset the injury to their talented leader.

Sophomore Steve Hayes continued his stellar fall, finishing second in the 1500m in a time of 3:52.9 -- his best of the spring. In the 5000m, freshman Breton Bonnette had probably his best race of the season, also finishing second in 15:10.51.

As the defining phase of the team season approaches, the Quakers appear poised to impress at Penn Relays and defend their title at Heps on May 3.

"I definitely think we're going to win Heps again," Miller said. "We're always the underdog going into it, but the last few year's we've pulled out a win."

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