March might have gone out like a lamb for the Penn men's track and field team, but the lion was still roaring on Saturday for the women.
Women's coach Gwen Harris and her team returned from the Maryland Invitational at College Park with a strong overall performance as well as exceptional individual showings.
The men, on the other hand, put together what coach Charlie Powell referred to as a "lackluster" third-place showing at the Navy Invitational Saturday.
Junior Jesse Carlin marked an NCAA provisional time for the women in her 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.54, taking first in the process. Also winning her event was junior Stacy Kim in the 5000m in 17:31.37.
Among a large field of teams, the Quakers also scooped up a handful of top-five finishes as well as first in 4x400m relay.
"What I do is compare what they've done last year to what they've done this year to see where they are, and everybody's doing a lot better," Harris said. "We're way ahead of where we were last year."
However, Powell of the men's team had a different tone after his team's meet.
"We expect so much from a group of real warriors, and they just didn't show it today," he said of the men's team's third-place showing. Ivy foe Princeton beat out the Quakers by 25 points to take second.
Sophomore Anthony Abitante and freshman John Carelli won their events in the pole vault and triple jump, respectively, in Annapolis.
The Quakers stacked runners in the 800m, with Tim Kaijala and Bryan Scotland crossing the line second and third, for some of the only bright spots on the day.
Coach Harris was optimistic about her team's outdoor start.
"We need to focus on being relaxed and finding the good in what we do."
The women's team certainly won't need to look too hard.
