W. Track 4x400 raises bar at Relays

The normally average Penn women's 4x400m team inspired its teammates for the rest of the weekend on Thursday at the Penn Relays. With a best time for the year of 3:48.73, the team came in second behind Cornell in the Heptagonal heat.

"It was amazing," freshman Dana McCurdy said. "Every leg ran really competitively, and it was a really important race because it was against all the other teams who will be at Heps."

The team -- consisting of seniors Petra Stewart and Crystal Marsh and juniors Michelle Hart and Susan Eisenberg -- got the chance to run in the championships of the 4x400m relay as second alternates on Saturday.

"At the last minute, our coach said, 'Just bag it. It's terrible weather, you don't need to run,'" Marsh said. "Michelle Hart said that we were already warmed up, we might as well do it. The officials asked, 'Are you in or out?' and Michelle yells, 'We're in, we're in!'"

The Quakers finished last in the heat, but running in the rain and against teams like North Carolina, they were thrilled with their race. Penn beat its best time from two days earlier by nearly a second and a half.

In the field events, senior Julie Siebert-Johnson took third in the javelin throw with a 157-foot, 10-inch toss, two feet shy of her personal record. Other successes included junior Caroline Rebello, earning 10th place in the pole vault with a height of 11' 3.75" and junior Ingrid Gustafson's 18th place 10' 10" height.

Neither McCurdy and Marsh ran their best in the 400m hurdle races. Marsh's 65.14 put her in 47th and McCurdy's 65.88 in 53rd. Hart, on the other hand, ran a personal best, finishing 40th with a 63.72.

"I ran slower than I normally do, but it was still a ton of fun," McCurdy said. "The experience of Penn Relays was the best part. Our home track takes on a whole different feeling."

Despite the great experience of the Relays, Marsh noted a glitch at Franklin Field that was nothing like she'd ever seen before.

"When in the shuttle hurdle relays the top four hurdling teams in the country tripped over the hurdles, I knew something had to be wrong," Marsh said.

As it turns out, the hurdles were facing the wrong way in the lanes. When the mistake was discovered, the hurdles were fixed and the rest of the heats proceeded. The heats in the botched hurdle lanes got the chance to race again.

"Penn Relays is such a professional, well-organized meet," Marsh said. "I can't believe that happened."

With the Heptagonal Championships next weekend, the Quakers left the Relays feeling ready for their last meet.

"The 4x400m victory over Yale, Brown, Columbia and Navy shows how much progress we've made this season," McCurdy said. "It was a good taste of what's to come at Heps."

Marsh added that Penn Relays was just a "a fun, crazy weekend."

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