Gamecocks upset W. Tennis in NCAA first round

The Penn women's track team lost to the other seven Ivy squads at the Heptagonal Championships, but the scoreboard would have been even more lopsided were if not for the field events. Of the 46.5 points that the Quakers scored at Yale on May 3 and 4, 44.5 of them were earned by jumpers and throwers. Cornell won the meet with 191.5 points.

"The field came together beautifully, and everyone either scored or [got personal records]," senior Julie Siebert-Johnson said. "It was a great day for Penn track and definitely a sign of things to come."

Siebert-Johnson was the only Penn athlete to win an event at the meet, with a 159-foot, eight-inch javelin throw. Penn dominated the entire event, with Kai Ivory coming in fourth and Heidi Albrecht eighth.

"It was my best throw of the year -- my best throw on American soil actually -- so I was obviously stoked," Siebert-Johnson said. "I struggled early, but won it on my last throw by more than 10 feet."

In the high jump, junior Grace Maloney came in third with a 5'5" in the high jump. Sophomore Samantha Crook also grabbed a third-place finish, pole vaulting to a height of 11'6.25". Junior Caroline Rebello vaulted exactly six inches shorter than Maloney, coming in fifth overall.

"Grace Maloney hadn't been practicing because of an injury, but she came back for Heps and jumped really well," senior Meghan Moran said. "People were just doing extraordinary things for the team, being selfless and putting the good of the team first."

Although the running events only brought in two points, Moran said that everyone ran well.

Freshman Dana McCurdy was happy with her performance in the 400m hurdles as well as the 4x800m relay. She beat her high school personal record in the hurdles, finishing ninth in the heats with a time of 63.9 seconds.

"My leg in the 4x800 was also really satisfying because I beat my best time by four seconds and ran a strong race," McCurdy said. "I had a good meet because I kept a positive attitude about competing, and our coaches have really given me a lot of helpful instruction about strategy and technique."

Moran was impressed with senior Kristen Koch's performance in the 10k and 5k the following morning, which, according to her, is a difficult double. Koch finished 11th in the 5k and 12th in the 10k.

"We had a lot of [personal records] at the meet, but we also had a good number of hindering injuries," McCurdy said. "Hopefully, with this year of tough training under our belts, we'll all be a lot stronger for next year."

Although Siebert-Johnson will not be around to see that happen, she thought that everyone stuck together well at this last meet. She added that her teammates support made a great moment for her even better.

"When I was leaving the runway for the last time, the team broke out into a 'JSJ' chant," she said. "And it is definitely the best Penn track memory I have from my four years here."

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