W. Track | Quakers face familiar Ivy foes in season's final lap

While the stands have cleared, the vendors have packed up and yet another Penn Relays has come to a close, the season for Penn women's track and field is far from over.

The Quakers will host the Heptagonal Championships, the equivalent of Ivy League Championships, at Franklin Field May 9 and 10. They hope their strong showing at the Relays will be a good indication of the success they can expect Friday.

"There's a lot of momentum right now. Everybody's very energized," junior Anna Aagenes said.

That momentum started at the Relays when Penn broke two school records and set multiple marks on the program's all-time record list. Aagenes, seniors Kinjal Parikh and Leah Brogan and freshman Laura Steel knocked more than two seconds off the previous school record in the 4x1500-meter relay with their time of 18:11.87. Aagenes was also a member of the record-setting sprint medley squad that won its Championship of America heat.

Freshmen Leah Brown and Paige Madison and sophomore Kali Strother - the rest of that sprint team - also teamed with freshman Renee McDougall to post a season-best performance of 46.74 seconds in the 4x100 relay, good for third all-time at Penn. The 4x200 team found similar success, moving into second on the Penn all-time list with a 1:39.24 finish. The 1600-meter relay team earned a spot in the record book with their time of 3:43.48, the fourth-fastest in program history.

The Quakers also performed well on the field thanks to three seniors. Whitney Tagliavini's 5.84-meter jump placed her sixth in the long jump. Camille Richard finished second in the triple jump, posting her best jump of the outdoor season at 12.04 meters. Deanna Morelli's sixth-place finish in the javelin placed her sixth all-time for the Penn program.

The Red and Blue will approach this weekend the same way they did the Relays, and they are confident that they will see similar success.

"The competitiveness the girls displayed at Relays will carry over to Heptagonals," coach Gwen Harris said.

The Quakers have not slowed down since the Relays. While some of the women have been tapering, they have not stopped running or lifting.

"You want the body to remember what it needs to do," Harris said.

Penn finished sixth last year at Heps in New Haven, Conn. Cornell finished first and should be just as competitive this year, considering its two event wins and overall strong performance at the Relays. But the Quakers aren't ready to name just one school that they will be looking out for Friday and Saturday.

"There's very good competition in the Ivy League that will push me and everyone else," Aagenes said. "You can never underestimate how other teams will do. Each team can surprise you."

Harris is just as wary of singling out the competition.

"It's about racing, and racing everyone and staying focused on that while making sure you have fun," she said.

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