This weekend marks the beginning of the final stretch for many of Penn's best senior track and field athletes. They will be competing in the NCAA East Regionals in Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday and Saturday.
Of the seven athletes wearing the Red and Blue, five will be running with the knowledge that a loss will bring an end to their collegiate careers. The top five finishers in each event will extend their season. They qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11-14.
"We're in our top shape and we're all looking to finish in the top 5 so we can go to Iowa for nationals next week," senior Jesse Carlin said.
Penn has a five-year streak of sending at least one athlete to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Two female runners are the most likely to continue that streak. Seniors Carlin and Stacy Kim are the fourth-ranked runners in the 800-meter and 5000m races, respectively, in the East Region.
Carlin finished third in last year's regionals to qualify for Nationals, but this year hopes to perform even better. She won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships May 18 and hopes that the momentum gained from a victory there will lead to a qualifying performance this weekend.
If any male Quaker is able to run his way into the top-5, it will likely be senior Tim Kaijala, who is ranked ninth in the 800m event. He competed in that event last year, but failed to make it out of the preliminary rounds. Senior Kyle Calvo also competed in the long jump last year and finished 16th. This year, he is ranked 25th.
This weekend will likely mark the end of the line for many of Penn's top track and field competitors, but for Carlin and some others, the regionals are only a stepping stone.
"Last year was my first time going, so my goal was to just make nationals and now I have goals beyond nationals," she said. "So I'm looking to do better at regionals and at nationals to get me to that goal."
"That goal" is the 2008 US Track and Field Olympic Trials. Her performance this weekend may be the difference between qualifying for them or being left just outside the pack.
