It had been 10 years since the Penn women's cross-country team finished in the top six at the Heptagonal Championships. On Friday, the Quakers put an end to that streak.
Senior co-captain Emily Logan once again led the way for Penn, finishing in 18:10.5 -- good for 16th overall -- as the Quakers earned their best result since 1993 with their sixth-place finish. The Heps is the race that decides the Ivy crown. The Quakers defeated both Harvard and Brown in the eight-team meet that ran at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.
"I think our performance shows the direction our program is heading," Logan said. "We've had a lot more depth than in years past, which makes it easier to run and work together as a team."
Heading into the meet, there was no question that nationally ranked Columbia and Princeton were the teams to beat in the Ancient Eight. When the dust cleared, the Lions edged out the Tigers by five points in the standings, giving them their second straight Ivy title despite Emily Kroshus of Princeton winning the race. Dartmouth, Yale and Cornell rounded out the top five.
Penn senior Elaina Lord finished just steps behind teammate Logan with a time of 18:10.8, a 20-second improvement on her last attempt at Van Cortlandt. Lord finished 17th overall in the field that featured over 90 runners.
Freshman Emily Buzzell continued her remarkable rookie campaign, finishing 45th overall, while senior Kim Milans, a consistent performer all year, placed 47th. But it was freshman Elisabeth Uible, 51st overall, who drew the most praise from her captain.
"Uible ran an awesome race," Logan said. "She really stepped it up for us."
For the first time all season, Uible, a freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio, placed in the top five for the Quakers. Many of the Red and Blue faithful hope it is a sign of things to come.
For now, the Quakers are preparing for the district meet on Nov. 8. Although it is unlikely the Quakers will qualify for the NCAA Championships, the team seems to be heading in the right direction. With Buzzell, Uible and fellow freshman Jennifer Blank, the Quakers appear to have a solid core to build upon for the future.
"I really can't wait to see what happens next year," said Logan, who has yet to decide if she wants to use her fifth year of eligibility. Our program "is only going up."
And while the phrase "wait 'til next year" is usually associated more with the hopeless than the promising, the Penn women's cross-country team seems as though it has a lot to look forward to in 2004.
