One more pre-Penn Relays meet for Red and Blue

The Penn track team can see it now.

Franklin Field packed to the rafters. Tens of thousands of screaming fans.

Oh, wait. That’s next week.

For now, the Quakers will have to bide their time and put their best foot forward at Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational this weekend, their final competition before the Penn Relays.

With the biggest meet of the year on the horizon, the Red and Blue will bring a stronger group of runners, a welcome change after months of splitting lineups between meets.

“A few of our athletes took a down week [last week at the George Mason Patriot Invitational],” coach Steve Dolan said. “So we want to get them back in action at Princeton … It’s a good tune-up for the Penn Relays.”

Even if a few of the Quakers were down last weekend, as a whole, the Red and Blue were up at the Patriot Invitational.

The men’s distance team had a banner week at the prestigious meet, led by sophomore Mato Bekelja.

The Hummelstown, Pa. native has stepped up in meets of late en route to earning a spot in Penn’s record books, posting the 10th fastest 800-meter time in Quakers history with a 1:49.62 split on Saturday.

Dolan is hoping to take advantage of Bekelja’s raw ability this weekend by slotting him into a few different events.

“He’s got good speed,” Dolan said. “This weekend, he’s actually going to run off events. He’s going to run the 400m just to keep working on his speed so then he’ll be ready for Penn Relays.”

Going forward, it’s hard not to see Bekelja as part of a core of competive middle-distance runners that includes 400m hurdler Tom Timmins and 1500m star Thomas Awad.

On the women’s side, all eyes will be on the sprinters this weekend after another record-breaking performance.

Sophomore Heather Bong broke the school’s 100m eight-year-old 100m record by posting a time of 11.83 seconds.

But those expecting a follow-up performance this weekend will be disappointed.

“We’re actually going to take a week down in the open events,” Dolan said. “She’s run so well in the 100m and 200m in recent weeks that we’re going to let her focus on relays this weekend.”

Bong’s no slouch at relay races, either. Last week, the 4×100m relay team of Bong, Gabrielle Piper, Nony Onyeador and Rachel Hlatky took first place.

And even though Bong, Bekelja and some of Penn’s top runners may be experiencing changes from their usual routine this weekend, they have plenty to look forward to.

After all, Relays are just around the corner.

SEE ALSO

Penn track’s Bong blazes past competition, runs into record books

Penn sprinter breaks school record at George Mason Invite

Coaches looking for progress as track & field head to Virginia

Quakers hold off British invasion in Ithaca

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