Despite a strong showing in the field competition, the Penn women's track team could not overcome the loss of two of its top runners this Saturday.
The Quakers finished second in a three-way meet in New Haven, Conn. The home Elis won 11 events to earn 85 points. Penn finished second, with 63, and Princeton third, with 55.
Two Quakers upperclassmen, Dana McCurdy and Tina Morrison, were not able to compete in the meet. Coach Gwen Harris described the pair to be a "real power-punch" when healthy.
The loss did not affect the team's mindset heading into the meet, though. The competition of the all-Ivy field was all the motivation that Penn needed.
"There's absolutely a rivalry," coach Gwen Harris said. "We were down two good kids yesterday, but we went in to win."
In the field, it was clear the team did just that as the Quakers earned points in seven of the eight events.
Junior Catrina Chisholm placed first in the hammer throw, with a distance of 49.52 meters. Teammate Charity Payne also found the top spot in her event, with a shotput of 14.3m. In the discus throw, Payne earned second place with her 42.33m effort.
The javelin throw garnered the team 11 points; all five participants were Penn's own. Freshman Kathleen Librizzi led the way with a 37.25m toss.
"They did an excellent job," said Davis of her field athletes. "This was one of their finer meets of the year."
On the track, the underclassmen led the way by accounting for eight Penn's nine point-scoring individual events.
The one upperclassman who had a top-four finish was Shani Boston, who ran the 100m hurdles in 15.64 to qualify for third. Freshman Camille Richard edged Boston out for second place with a time of 15.48.
Sophomore Jesse Carlin had Penn's only individual first-place finish on the track. She finished the 400m dash in 54.9 seconds, while her teammate, freshman Lauren Blake, finished with a time of 58.79 to take third.
The sophomores exhibited the same success they have shown all season as three other classmates took points in various events. Shaunee Morgan took third in the 100m dash and second in the 200m.
Stacey Kim and Carolyn Auwaerter also earned second-place finishes in the 300m run and the 400m hurdles, respectively.
These top performances came as no surprise to Harris, who knows that the team's "hard work is paying off."
The coach has tracked her players' performances from one year to the next.
She has found that "80 to 90 percent of the girls are in a better place then they were last year."
This improvement will be crucial for the upcoming championships and the Penn Relays.
The team now has three straight events at Franklin Field, including the Relays, beginning next Saturday. With the return of its two missing teammates, the Red and Blue will look to take home its first No. 1 finish this season.
