M. Golf set for Big 5 Tourney on home course
This weekend, the Penn men's golf team will take on Temple, La Salle, Drexel, Villanova and Saint Joseph's, as well as six other teams in the Big 5 Tournament. The tournament will be held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pa., Penn's home course.
"It's a huge advantage to play on the same course we practice on," Penn coach Heath Davidson said. "It's a very tough, very demanding long golf course. A big part of our advantage is knowing which location to be at to putt the ball to the hole."
Georgetown and Lehigh will also compete this weekend. The Hoyas are currently the highest ranked team in the district and Lehigh tied Penn for first place in the Big Five Tournament last year. The Quakers lost that tournament due to a tiebreaker that compared score cards.
"Our team is as good, if not better, than last year," junior Derek Rogers said. "We tied for first last year. We have a great chance of repeating that performance."
The weather is not shaping up to be great, however, with chances of rain, high winds and low temperatures.
"The weather's always a concern," Rogers said. "But we're great under bad weather. Penn teams always have better focus in bad conditions. It could be a positive for us."
The tournament will be an opportunity for Penn to size up Yale, last year's Ivy League champion.
"We see Princeton a fair amount, but not Yale or Columbia," Davidson said. "It's a good indicator of where we are in the Ivies."
--Alexandra Lieberman
M. Tennis ready for ITA Eastern Regionals
The Penn men's tennis team was insulted to be seeded ninth at this fall's Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Invitational. The squad responded by finishing tied for fifth, beating numerous Ivy League rivals and quickly earning the respect of its competition.
This weekend the Quakers travel to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Omni ITA Regional Championships. The format is purely individual competition. Each school to participate is only guaranteed a spot for one singles player and one doubles team. Penn has been given six singles spots and three doubles team spots.
The competition "is regarding us much higher," Penn coach Mark Riley said.
Riley is happy with his team's progress since the start of the season at the Princeton Invitational.
"We showed a lot of improvement from the first tournament to the second," he said.
Junior co-captain David Lynn echoed his coach's satisfaction.
"The team is looking real good. We have a lot of confidence from the ECACs."
Lynn suffered an ankle injury at Princeton and played hurt at the ECACs two weeks ago.
"I'm still not 100 percent, but I'm getting there," Lynn said.
This weekend gives the team another chance to preview the competition for the spring season, which features more team competition and an Ivy title at stake.
"It's a good chance to see where everybody stands," Lynn said.
Riley can already tell a few things.
"Harvard is going to be the team to shoot for in the spring."
Each of the eight Ivy teams will participate this weekend at Cornell.
Riley hopes his team continues to improve.
"I want these guys to keep getting better," he said. "If they play hard, they are going to be successful. I'd like to see somebody get deep in the tournament."
The starters this weekend are Lynn, junior co-captain Craig Rubin, juniors Todd Lecher, Anthony Pu and Justin Lavner, sophomore Jimmy Fairbanks and freshman standout Mikhail Bekker.
-- Matt Hendrickson
M. Track heads to Iowa for Nationals tuneup
The Penn men's track team will be competing in the Pre-Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this weekend. The Pre-Nationals are held on the same course as the Nationals and will provide the Quakers with some valuable experience. A strong finish could help them secure an at-large bid for Nationals at the end of November.
The competition, however, will be fierce. Because the same course used this weekend will also be used at Nationals, the Pre-Nationals attract most of the top 30 teams in the country. Penn freshman runner Troy Werner said that this weekend was a "big race" for the Quakers because they are "right on the bubble of being a nationally ranked team."
A strong performance in Iowa would go a long way in making their case for a national ranking.
Penn is coming off of a strong fourth-place finish at the Paul Short Memorial Run and a dominating first-place performance at the Delaware Invitational.
The team's chief Ivy League rivals will also be in Cedar Falls. The Quakers defeated Columbia, but lost to Princeton at the Paul Short Memorial Run. This weekend gives Penn an opportunity to avenge the loss to the Tigers. The Quakers are led by juniors Nolan Tully and Stephen Hayes, who have alternated as Penn's top finishers this season.
--Jeff Fisher
M. Hoops to face MSU in Coca-Cola Classic
The Quakers will play Michigan State in the first game of the Coca-Cola Classic on Nov. 29. The tournament commemorates the Final Four of 1979. Penn was originally scheduled to play DePaul in the first game of the classic.
-- Zachary Silver
