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(05/27/99 9:00am)
The Quakers fail to duplicate last year's surprise second-place finish. Penn was in perfect position coming into the last turn of its qualifying heat for the 4x100 meters -- a step behind first-place Pittsburgh with junior Shawn Fernandes ready to anchor the relay to a fast finish. But Fernandes never got a chance to use his blazing speed, as the exchange between sophomore Mike Aguilar and the Penn junior was not within the legal passing zone. "Whether Shawn took off early or he was feeling extra fast, I don't know," said senior Dan Nord, the second leg of the 4x100. "He was literally six inches too far ahead of Mike." The 4x100 was a microcosm of Penn's performance at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championship -- plenty of potential, but a lack of execution. The Quakers finished tied for 20th in the 47-team field at George Mason Stadium last weekend -- not a bad showing, but a far cry from their second-place performance of a year ago. "We did not do some of the things we thought we could do," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. The highlight of the meet for the Quakers was the triple jump. Senior Stan Anderson and freshman Tuan Wreh scored eight of Penn's 13.5 points with fourth and sixth place finishes, respectively. But even that event was tinged with disappointment. "Stan was trying to pull off the monster jump and he just didn't," Powell said. "We thought Tuan could jump more in the 15.1, 15.2 [meter] range and Stan could jump 15.8 or 15.9 [meters] and get first or second." Anderson's mark of 15.45 meters (50'8.25'') was below the standard needed to qualify for Nationals. The senior had jumped 52'2.5'' at Heptagonals three weeks earlier, but the wind exceeded the maximum allowed under NCAA rules. "If it wasn't for the fact that Stan's jump was wind-aided, he would have easily qualified," Powell said. Instead, Anderson had to settle for a 3.75'' improvement over his performance from a year ago. Wreh, meanwhile, leapt a respectable 15.06 meters (49'5'') to score three points for the Quakers. Penn's other three scorers in the meet were junior Sean MacMillan and sophomores Aaron Prokopec and Seth Beaver. Last year MacMillan finished third in the steeplechase in 8:55.51. But the junior from Amityville, N.Y., has had to battle back from injury this season. MacMillan pulled in a strong performance to close out his season on Sunday, placing seventh in 9:05.70. "He ran an extremely competitive race," Powell said. "He was never out of the top six or seven and the only reason he was seventh was because one kid from Harvard [Scott Muoio] came from way back to run down three guys in the last 150 meters." Prokopec, meanwhile, led the three Penn pole vaulters at IC4As with a jump of 4.90 meters (16'0.75'') -- good enough to tie him for eighth place. "Aaron vaulted well and had two very good attempts at 16'6''," Powell said. Junior Bobby Reynolds turned in an 11th-place performance in the pole vault with a clearing height of 4.80 meters (15'9''), while sophomore Luke Stokes failed to make opening height. Beaver, meanwhile, earned three points for the Quakers with a sixth in the javelin. His mark of 201 feet was a 7'8'' improvement over last year, where he finished 11th at IC4As. On the whole, the Penn throwers had a subpar day, however -- including Matt Pagliasotti. The junior finished sixth in both the discus and hammer throw last year, but placed only 28th and 12th, respectively, this year. Sophomore Andy Girardin had hoped to make a splash in the deep pool of runners in the 800, but ended up last in the preliminary heat. His time of 1:54.75 was well off his personal record, but Powell believes the race was a good learning experience. "It was his first time with the really big boys and the first time where everyone can run under 1:50," Powell said. "He really stuck his nose out and he'll be ready for next year." Long jumper Nord also had a tough day, finishing only 18th after reinjuring his hamstring. In the team scoring last weekend, Georgetown ran away with the title. The Hoyas scored 103 points, besting second-place Liberty by 31. Penn was third among Ivy League schools, behind Princeton (6th, 45.5 points) and Brown (16th, 15.5).
(05/27/99 9:00am)
She finished seventh. This year Desai improved her mark by almost two inches, jumping 9'6.25''. But she finished only 25th. Why has the competition in the women's pole vault gotten so much better? Because the women have had to start from scratch. Last year was the first time that the women's pole vault was contested in the Ivy League. After two years of exhibition status, the vault will finally become an official event next year. Just in time to keep up with the meteoric rise of the women vaulters. "The women are improving leaps and bounds in this event," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "The learning curve is really expanding. Next year, 11 feet might only be eighth [at ECACs]." This year, 11 feet was good enough for second place. College coaches and athletes are learning the intricacies of the vault, so now women can no longer expect to succeed with athletic talent alone. But not all the pole vault improvement has come from within. "High school girls are going over 12 feet now," Tenisci said. "When they join the ranks of the collegiates, [the pole vault] will be even harder." For the first time, college coaches are recruiting women vaulters instead of trying to convert other women's athletes to the highly technical event. "We have been just taking our lesser long jumpers and making them into vaulters," Dartmouth assistant coach Carl Wallin said. Now athletes are coming in as freshmen with knowledge of the vault -- and thus a higher ceiling. "Soon at the college level there will be tons of kids vaulting over 13 feet," Wallin said. "And the top athletes will clear 15 feet." But while the Ivy League will make the women's pole vault an official event last year, this year marks the second consecutive season that NCAA will contest the vault as a scoring event. "My initial reaction was I wasn't happy because [the pole vault] wasn't a widely contested high school event," Cornell coach Lou Duesing said. "It didn't give schools time to recruit and it's not the safest of our events. To just throw us into the situation, I thought it was a mistake." Faced with the NCAA's surprisingly swift addition of the women's pole vault, the Ivy coaches voted to make the event an exhibition for two years before it became an official scoring event at Heptagonals. "The thinking was we wanted to give coaches and athletes time to develop," Brown coach Rob Rothenberg said. "Because the event was so new, there was a question of equipment, a question of coaching expertise, and a question of time needed to develop athletes that wanted to do the event." Now, on the eve of the pole vault becoming a scoring event, the vaulters are finally competing at a championship level. Fresno State's Melissa Price, the top collegiate pole vaulter, has already cleared 14 feet this season. But the NCAA may have cheapened the value of a championship in the pole vault by being so quick to add it to the women's slate. Last year's NCAA champion, Bianca Maran from Cal Poly Tech, cleared only 12'5.5'' in Nationals -- nearly 10 inches less than Tracey O'Hara's best jump last year as a high school senior. "If the NCAA were to add the 200 [meter dash] to the Indoor Nationals, it would immediately be run at a championship level," Rothenberg said. "But the pole vault is such a technical event." Like the hammer throw or high jump, the pole vault takes time to perfect. And time was now at a premium for college coaches, who had to scramble to find vaulters. Princeton's first women's pole vaulter last year was, according to coach Peter Farrell, "someone I noticed with upper body strength." So while Farrell tried to compete with a rookie vaulter, the NCAA had implemented the pole vault as a scoring event in Nationals. Many of the top women's track programs in the country were without a pole vaulter -- yet the event would still factor in determining the next national champion. The NCAA should have done what the Ivy League coaches did. Wait.
(05/27/99 9:00am)
Freshman Liz Wittels placed third in the pole vault, while senior Rita Garber was fifth in the 3000 meters. Freshman Elizabeth Wittels and senior Rita Garber both finished in the top six last weekend at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships to garner All-East honors. Wittels and Garber led Penn to a 26th-place finish at George Mason in Fairfax, Va. The Quakers scored 10.5 points -- only 1.5 points behind 21st-place Princeton -- to best their 34th-place finish last year in ECACs. Three of the five Penn competitors scored in the meet last weekend, led by pole vaulter Wittels. The Quakers freshman jumped 10'11.75'' to tie for third place with Rutgers sophomore Kate Macfarlane. Wittels and Macfarlane both cleared the height on their second attempt, but Liberty freshman Andrea Wildrick was awarded second after marking on her first attempt. Duke sophomore Jillian Schwartz finished first with a jump of 11'7.75''. Weather conditions may have prevented Wittels -- who has a personal record of 12 feet -- from a better performance, however. "The actual event was supposed to be Saturday," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "They had just begun it when it became stormy, so they postponed it until the next morning at 10 a.m. There was a lot of wind -- a headwind coming right at them." Although the Penn freshman scored more than half of the Quakers' points herself, she was still not happy with her performance. "I didn't do what I went there to do," Wittels said. "My goal going into the meet was to clear high enough to put me back into position to go to nationals. I think that would probably be around 12'6'', so I was disappointed with [my jumps]." Garber was Penn's other top scorer at ECACs. The former walk-on scored four points for the Quakers with her fifth-place finish in the 3000 meters. Garber's time of 9:51.23 in her final collegiate event was slower than she ran at Heptagonals three weeks before, but Garber ran the race for place more than for time. "No one really went for blistering times because it was so hot and humid," Tenisci said. "The first two girls in the race took off and the next four just stuck together." Garber moved up to fifth early in the final lap, but was nearly passed again in the final few meters by William and Mary's Kathy Newberry. Garber outlasted the charging Tribe runner by just 57/100ths of a second. "[Newberry] was chasing her, but Rita had established position," Tenisci said. "She hung tough right to the tape." Senior Luana Botelho also managed to score for the Quakers in the shot put. Her throw of 43'8.5'' fell short of her school record of 45'2'' and her performance at ECACs last year (44'10.25''), but was still good enough to score points for the Quakers. "Obviously I would have liked her to be a little higher than last year," Tenisci said. "But she had a great career. She's a real class athlete and all the coaches and players really liked her." While Wittels, Garber and Botelho had varying degrees of success last weekend, sophomores Bassey Adjah and Ami Desai both had disappointing days in Virginia. Adjah marked only 17'10.25'' in the long jump -- more than 15 inches short of her PR of 19'2.75''. "Even though she looked good on the runway, she was just a little flat," Tenisci said. "She really wanted to do well and wasn't relaxing enough." Tenisci also cites the late dates of the ECACs for Adjah's substandard performance. "Once we're done with Heps, everything is secondary," Tenisci said. "We care about this [ECACs], but we peak at Heps and this is three weeks after Heps." Desai, meanwhile, finished tied for 25th with a mark of 9'6.25''. She had finished third at Heps after clearing 10 feet, but could not duplicate her success on Sunday.
(05/27/99 9:00am)
Penn's varsity eight boat downed Cornell for the 16th time in the last 17 years to keep the trophy. The Madeira Cup -- given each year to the winner of the Penn-Cornell heavyweight varsity eight race -- seems to have a permanent place in the Quakers' trophy case. Penn has relinquished the Cup only once since 1983. And this year was no different. Penn (6-1, 5-1 Ivy League) steamed by Cornell (3-5, 0-3) in convincing fashion Saturday on the Schuylkill River, outrowing the Big Red from the start. The Quakers finished in 5:55.91, almost 10 seconds ahead of Cornell (6:05.19). "We've always had success against [Cornell]," Penn senior captain Greg Rauscher said. "But we've worked really hard this week so it's been rough on everybody. We were just really tired [on Saturday]." While the fatigued varsity eight crew still managed an easy win over the Big Red, the hard training was too much for the second varsity eight to handle. Penn lost its second varsity race by just 2.65 seconds to Cornell. "I take the blame for the loss," Penn coach Stan Bergman said. "We really trained hard this week and the guys were just tired." Cornell, meanwhile, used their fresh lightweight eight in the second varsity race. The Big Red lightweights responded by rowing more than four seconds faster than their heavyweight counterparts. In the freshman race, Penn was again saddled with a loss, as Cornell won by nearly 10 seconds. "Cornell has a really good freshman crew," Bergman said. "But our guys are just struggling." Penn's open four, a combination of varsity and freshmen rowers, had some success on Saturday, as the boat defeated Cornell, 6:57.00 to 7:00.55. The Quakers' crew was largely inexperienced -- none of the four rowers or the coxswain had raced prior to this season. The Big Red were victorious in the two other four-man boats -- one by a blowout and one by a very close margin. While Cornell's varsity four without coxswain destroyed Penn by more than twelve seconds, the Big Red varsity four won by just 1.1 seconds. "Cornell got out to open water early [in the varsity four race], but we came back," Bergman said. "We caught a little bit of a crab and that probably lost it for us in the end," referring to when a rower's oar extends too deep in the water, causing the boat to stop momentarily. The Quakers will finish their season this weekend at the IRA national championships at Cooper River in Camden, N.J., today through Sunday. The three-day meet features some of the best crew teams in the country. Penn is currently ranked fifth in the United States Rowing National Collegiate Coaches poll and finished fourth at IRAs last year, but Penn coach Stan Bergman is not just concerned about a high place for his varsity eight squad. "We want to have our best race of the season [at IRAs]," Bergman said. "If that gives us the gold, fine. If that gives us seventh place, fine." Still, Penn is looking to pull off an upset victory. California and EARC Sprints champion Princeton will be tough for the Quakers to catch, but Penn should be in a competitive race with Brown, Washington and Wisconsin -- numbers three, four and six, respectively -- for the next four places. The Cooper River course is no stranger to the Penn crew, as the IRAs have been in New Jersey for the last six years. "It's a great course," Rauscher said. "It's straight -- no turns, no currents and the water's almost always flat." Penn's lightweight crew will also compete at IRAs. The Quakers are ranked ninth after their ninth-place finish at Sprints three weeks ago.
(05/20/99 9:00am)
The visiting Quakers won the Burk Cup for the third consecutive year over the host Huskies Charles River may be the home course of Northeastern University, but the Huskies have no home-course advantage. While Northeastern has won three of the last five varsity races against Penn on the Schuylkill River, the Quakers have not lost to the Huskies on the Charles River since 1983. For those who are counting, that's eight straight wins for the visiting Quakers over Northeastern. Last Saturday was no different, as the Penn varsity eight (5-1) beat the Huskies (2-3) by eight seconds in the day's main event, 5:54.00 to 6:02.00 on the 2,000 meter course. "We had the lead at the start and we just kept extending that lead," Penn captain Greg Rauscher said. Penn's two junior varsity teams also scored victories over Northeastern. The second team won by more than five seconds -- 6:12.1 to 6:17.4 -- while the third boat destroyed their Huskies counterpart -- 6:34.5 to 6:57.8. The freshmen boat was the only loss of the day for the Quakers, as Northeastern defeated Penn, 6:15.7 to 6:18.6. Although the varsity team rowed to an easy victory, the crew did not cruise to the finish line. "We've been working on a move during the race," Rauscher said. "We needed a move to keep our push. We emphasized that and were were successful." The varsity boat, already in the lead, picked up the pace just before the halfway point in the race to increase its momentum and speed. "We need to increase boat speed at that point," Penn coach Stan Bergman said. "But that's hard because the guys are tired." The first boat's victory gave Penn the Burk Cup for the 12th time in the past 17 years. Named after Wharton alumnus Joseph Burk, the trophy stayed with the Quakers for the third consecutive year. Penn's second varsity team did not have the Burk Cup to race for, but still blew the Northeastern boat out of the water from the opening gun. "We jumped right out on them from the beginning," second boat coxswain John Whittaker said. "The lead we got in the first 1,000 meters was the same lead we ended up in." Like the first boat, the second boat used the race to work on some technical aspects of its race. "We were just trying to row a little bit higher, a little bit harder to build endurance," Whittaker said. Although the second boat did not record a complete success in this goal, Whittaker believed the crew was "moving in the right direction." The IRA championships are the main focus for the Quakers, but the heavyweight crew has another race for a cup on Saturday at 10 a.m. Penn (4-1 Ivy League) will take on Ivy foe Cornell (3-4, 0-2 Ivy League) on the Schuylkill River. "After the Cornell race we'll taper pretty good," Bergman said. "We'll work hard until then, though." The winner of the Penn-Cornell race receives the Madeira Cup -- a trophy the Quakers have won 15 of the last 16 years. Last year the Quakers defeated the Big Red by 15.1 seconds -- their largest margin of victory since 1991.
(05/20/99 9:00am)
Bassey Adjah and Luana Botelho will try to break school records in Va. And then there were five. Thirteen individuals and two relay teams scored points for the sixth place Penn women's track team at the Heptagonal Championships on the weekend of May 1-2. But only five Quakers will compete at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships this Saturday and Sunday at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va. The quintet of Bassey Adjah (long jump), Luana Botelho (shot put), Rita Garber (3,000 meters) and pole vaulters Elizabeth Wittels and Ami Desai will have to carry the torch by themselves for Penn in the ECACs. Several other Quakers met the minimum time or distance requirements to qualify, but chose not to participate in the meet. "Because the wait between Heps and ECACs was so long [three weeks] and the seniors had such a hectic time, many did not choose to compete," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. Among those who will not be at ECACs are the members of the 4x100 relay team. Sophomore JaJuan Gair, senior Shana McDonald-Black and juniors Vicki Moore and Richelle Clements combined to break the school record with a time of 47.41 at Heps but will not make the trip to Virginia this weekend. Several other Penn records may be in jeopardy at ECACs, however. Frances Childs' 14-year old long jump record of 19'6.25'' may not last much longer, as Adjah leapt 19'2.75'' at Heps less than three weeks ago. "At Heps I missed [the school record] by six inches and I was behind the board," Adjah said. The Quakers sophomore, who has improved by more than a foot in the past year, has been focusing on her approach -- rather than her actual jump -- in recent practices. "I'm just working on my run-up," Adjah said. "My problem isn't in jumping, it's that I sometimes try too hard and my run-up changes." Botelho, meanwhile, already holds several school records, but the senior will try to best her outdoor shot put mark of 45'2'' in her final college meet this weekend. "She really put the throwing team back on the map," Tenisci said. "I'd really like her to end with another record." Botelho has come back from a broken thumb on her throwing hand to return to her record-breaking form, throwing a near-PR of 44'9.75'' at Heps. Fellow senior Garber probably will not break a record in the 3,000 -- Chris Lundy's 9:28.71 in 1992 is likely out of reach -- but the former walk-on will be looking to run under 9:40 at ECACs. "I'm looking to end my season and my college career on a high note," Garber said. "I want to walk away without any regrets." Garber ran 9:48.86 at Heps, but had run the 5,000 only hours before. Dead legs will not be a problem at ECACs, though; Garber qualified in both races but will only compete in the 3,000. "At Heps my goal was to score as many points as possible for the team," Garber said. "But now I'll really be able to put everything into one race." Although Wittels had a poor outing at Heps, the freshman remains Penn's best chance to go to Nationals. Her clearing height, 9'6.25'', was nearly two and a half feet off her personal record. "It was a windy day at Heps," Tenisci said. "The conditions weren't very good for pole vaulters." But Wittels' best jump, 12 feet, is good enough for provisional qualification for the NCAA Championships. Tenisci believes she probably needs a higher jump to vault into the pool of qualifiers, but Wittels could conceivably still make Nationals with a subpar jump this weekend. Desai, on the other hand, outjumped Wittels at Heps to place third, but the Quakers sophomore will need to fly much higher to qualify for next month's NCAA Championships.
(05/20/99 9:00am)
Penn finished 13th at Sprints after colliding with an abandoned boat on Lake Waramaug. It was not fatigue, or lack of strength, or lack of desire that stopped the Penn women's varsity eight from qualifying for the Petite Final of the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing College Sprints. It was the fishing boat. A private fishing boat was left abandoned in Lake Waramaug on Sunday -- right in the middle of the Quakers' lane 800 meters into the race. "We knew that it was there [on Saturday]," Penn senior captain Melinda Patterson said. "But they assured us that it would be moved. We didn't know it was still there." The obstacle took up half the lane, making it unavoidable for the Quakers. The side of Penn's boat hit the fishing boat and the Quakers quickly fell from third place to fifth. Penn made a valiant comeback attempt, but could not catch up with Navy and Cornell. The varsity boat finished in 6:37.70 -- only 1/2 second behind the Midshipmen (6:37.20) and slightly more than a second behind the Big Red (6:36.60). "The problem was we were side by side with Navy," Penn coach Barb Kirch said. "We couldn't switch lanes to get around the fishing boat." If the Quakers had finished ahead of the Navy boat, they would have qualified for the Petite final. Instead, Penn's varsity eight had to row in the third-level final. "On one level [the varsity boat rowers] were obviously frustrated," Kirch said. "But they were also extremely mature and understanding." Kirch protested the race, but to no avail. Normally, Penn would have rowed in a makeshift seventh lane in the Petite Final, but Lake Waramaug was not large enough to add another lane. Forced to compete in the third-level final, the Quakers did not sulk. "We went in there knowing we had to win and by as much as possible," Patterson said. The Quakers took the lead from the start and easily won the race in 6:16.50. The boat's time was the 10th-fastest on the day -- and more than three seconds faster than Navy's Petite Final time. But, since Penn was in the third heat of the finals, the Quakers officially finished in 13th place. Penn's second varsity boat, without unexpected obstacles in its lane, fared better than the top eight. The second eight qualified for the Grand Final by placing second in their preliminary heat. The boat then finished fifth in the final in 6:31.40, behind Radcliffe by 3.1 seconds but more than six seconds ahead of Boston University. "The Second Varsity Eight really raced to its potential," Kirch said. "That was the highlight for us." Penn had two other teams competing at New Preston, Conn., on Lake Waramaug. The first novice eight won the third-level final by more than nine seconds over Syracuse, 6:47.20 to 6:56.30. The big margin of victory was especially surprising, since Penn had posted a qualifying time that was only 1/2 second faster than the Orangewomen. Penn's second novice eight finished fourth in the Petite Final in the 11th fastest time. The boat outlasted Rutgers by 2.2 seconds to claim the fourth-place position. In composite scoring, Penn finished 13th among the 18 competing schools with 27 points. Brown won the Chick Willing points trophy with 76 points, while Princeton and Virginia tied for second with 66 points. The Bears were victorious on the strength of their three wins in the varsity and novice races -- and Brown only lost by 1/10th of a second to Virginia in the second varsity eight race.
(05/20/99 9:00am)
The Quakers finished second in the meet last year but have lost 14 team members to graduation. Last year the Penn men's track team finished second at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America track meet -- the highest place by an Ivy League or Heptagonal team in 25 years. But this is not the same Quakers team -- Penn has graduated 14 athletes that scored in IC4As last year. "That's akin in football to graduating every member of the offensive team and half of the second string," Penn assistant coach Nathan Taylor said. The loss of so many top athletes took its toll on the Quakers during much of the indoor and early outdoor seasons, but Penn finally pulled it all together for a third-place finish at the Heptagonal Championship on the weekend of May 1-2. However, few expect the Red and Blue to put together another second-place finish at this weekends IC4As at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va. But the Quakers will be no pushover. "If each individual comes close to [setting personal records], we have a chance to finish in the top five or six," Taylor said. Penn will be led by senior Stan Anderson, who has qualified for both indoor and outdoor IC4As in all four years he has been at Penn. Anderson has scored in each of his previous seven competitions, and this weekend should be no exception. Anderson, who will compete in the triple jump, jumped 52'2.5'' at Heps. That mark would have qualified him for Nationals, but the wind conditions exceeded the maximum 4.0 miles per hour. "My goal is to make Nationals," Anderson said. "I definitely haven't been lifting as hard so I can peak. I've just got to get on the runway and get my steps right." Sean MacMillan will join Anderson in returning to IC4A competition this weekend. The junior steeplechaser finished third at IC4As last year, but has had to battle back from injury this season. "I think I'm pretty close to what I was last year," MacMillan said. "Two weeks ago, through the first 2,000 [meters], I was on pace to qualify for Nationals. I just have to hold on and it'll be easier with more people in the race. There were basically two people running [at that race]." MacMillan, in order to build his speed, has been training with 800 runner Andrew Girardin the past week. Girardin has consistently lowered his personal record from 1:53 to 1:50.5 this season, but he will be running in what Taylor calls "the most competitive event in the meet." There were six All-Americans in the 800 at this meet last year, and this year should be no different. Girardin will likely need to run under 1:48 just to make the finals. Another track runner, Mike Aguilar, looks to make a big impact in the intermediate hurdles. Aguilar has been hampered by injury most of the season, but Taylor believes the sophomore is ready to break out this weekend. "He has looked very good -- not just good -- in practice," Taylor said. Although MacMillan, Girardin and Aguilar will make their presence felt on the track, the Quakers will be strongest in the field. Sophomore javelin thrower Seth Beaver and junior Brent Stiles (shot put) will join junior Matt Pagliasotti (discus and hammer throw) in the throwing events. Pagliasotti, who was sixth in both the discus and hammer throw last year, is looking for a top three finish in the hammer throw this year. Virginia Tech's Erick Kingston and Princeton's Hugh Kennedy will be his top competition. "I'm just going in trying to get points for the team," Pagliasotti said. Joining Anderson in the jumps will be senior long jumper Dan Nord and freshman triple jumper Tuan Wreh. Nord, coming off a series of injuries, jumped 6.90 meters in Heps, --his first meet in two months. He followed that performance up with a 7.29 meter jump the following weekend. "He's getting stronger every week," Taylor said of the Quakers' co-captain. Wreh gives Penn a deadly combination in the triple jump. While Anderson has been jumping near 52 feet, Wreh has a PR of 50'2''. "I've been jumping in that 50 foot range the past couple weeks and hopefully IC4As is where I'll break out," Wreh said. Penn's strongest event might be the pole vault, however. Three Quakers qualified for IC4As, as junior Bob Reynolds and sophomores Luke Stokes and Aaron Prokopec will all be looking to score points for the Red and Blue. "We've been working on going faster as well as tapering for the meet," Prokopec said. Penn will have a smaller team going to IC4As this year, but the Quakers still have enough depth to make an impact this weekend in Virginia.
(05/14/99 9:00am)
the Quakers were unable to defend their title at the EARC Springs, falling to both Princeton and Brown. Last year, the Penn heavyweight first varsity boat surprised everyone in the rowing world by finishing first in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Sprints. But last Sunday the Quakers needed a furious sprint to the finish just to claim third against improved competition. While Penn nipped Princeton in the Grand Final last year, Brown's top eight and the undefeated Tigers were too strong for the Quakers last weekend. Princeton won in 5:42.10, while Brown was more than four seconds behind, finishing in 5:46.99. Penn's first varsity boat rowed a time of 5:48.91 at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., to capture third. But the Quakers were behind the leading pack for most of the race. "We fell behind when [the top four boats] made a big move right around 1,000 meters in," heavyweight captain Greg Rauscher said. Penn was in fifth place with 350 meters to go but pulled ahead of fourth-place Harvard soon after. The Quakers still needed a breakneck effort at the finish, however, to edge out Wisconsin by 35/100ths of a second for the bronze medal. "[Coxswain Mark Redding] called the last 10 strokes and the crew really responded to that," heavyweight coach Stan Bergman said. The varsity eight was also closing in on Princeton and Brown, but the two Ivy rivals had too much of a lead on the Red and Blue. The second heavyweight boat did not enjoy the same success as the first boat. The crew finished in fourth place in the second varsity race in 6:00.08 -- just 34/100ths of a second ahead of Harvard. But the top three teams -- including a Wisconsin crew that Penn beat in the preliminary heat -- were each more than eight seconds in front of the Quakers. "We had a good start," second boat coxswain John Whittaker said. "In the first 500 [meters] we were right in the pack -- we probably even had the lead for a little bit. But we just couldn't hold it." The second eight did manage to keep the chasing Harvard squad at bay, however. "We realized toward the end that Harvard was right next to us and we had beat them two weeks ago," Whittaker said. "We were like, 'We're not gonna let this happen' and we held them off." The varsity lightweight team, meanwhile, was not in complete synchrony after a few lineup shifts. The lightweight eight, which switched four rowers' seat positions in preparation for the race, finished a disappointing ninth. Penn switched Gerry Berry and Sean Ford and used Alex Muniz, instead of Matt Morano, as strokeman. But the Quakers believe these changes were implemented too close to Sprints to be effective. "[The lineup switches] definitely gave us some speed that we were looking for," lightweight varsity rower Mark Hodgson said. "But it was a big change and we didn't have enough time to prepare." The new-look lightweight boat rowed a strong middle of the race, but could not overcome a slow start. "They really had us off the line," lightweight coxswain Lauren Leiman said. "Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, all of them. They were ahead of us from the first stroke." The Quakers' lightweight first boat will revert to its original lineup in its final race of the season later this month at the IRA Championships in Pennsauken, N.J. In the other heavyweight races, Penn's third varsity boat finished fourth while the Quakers' top freshman eight did not make the Grand Final. On the lightweight side, both the Quakers' second varsity boat and the first freshmen boat finished fourth in their respective Petite Finals, tenth overall. Overall, Princeton's rowers dominated at Sprints. The Tigers finished first in the first and second varsity races in both heavyweight and lightweight competition but did not score a victory in any of the freshmen races. The Quakers heavyweight rowers will travel to Northeastern this weekend, while the lightweight crew has three weeks off from competition to prepare for the IRA Championships.
(04/28/99 9:00am)
Arkansas, Texas relay teams shine Everyone knew Arkansas had a good men's distance team; the Razorbacks had captured a combined 25 of the last 32 titles in the distance medley and 4xMile races at the Penn Relays. But last weekend at Franklin Field, Arkansas entrenched itself among the best ever. The Razorbacks not only won the DM and 4xMile, but also became the first Arkansas team to ever win the 4x800 meter event at the Penn Relays. And, for good measure, the Razorbacks set a collegiate record with their time of 16:07.96 in the four-mile relay. Arkansas coach John McDonald used a total of seven runners in the three events, but there was one constant in all the races -- Seneca Lassiter as the anchor. Lassiter -- who was named Outstanding Collegiate Men's Relay Athlete for his efforts -- shined brightest with a 3:55.6 split in the record-breaking 4xMile relay. "I was looking at the clock when I was coming down and I was just thinking about the record," Lassiter said. "That's all that was on my mind? I knew when I got the baton that I would have to run a 3:55 to do it." Although the Hogs kept the crowd buzzing with their dominance, the three-day Penn Relay Carnival was chock full of other collegiate races -- including the more-exciting-than-expected women's 4x400 relay. Texas had won the event four straight years, and was expected to run away with the title again. But when anchor Suziann Reid received the baton, she found herself 25 meters behind South Carolina's Eleakisha Williamson. Reid's scintillating anchor leg of 50.8 seconds, however, did give the Longhorns their fifth consecutive title and earned her the honor of Outstanding Collegiate Women's Relay Athlete at the Relays. "It feels great to win here at Penn," Reid said. "It was nice to be able to win here in my last year. I felt I ran well [coming from so far behind]." The Longhorns' women also won another sprint relay -- the 4x100 -- in a Penn Relays record time of 43.33, besting LSU's time of 43.42 from last year. "We came here hoping to [break a record]," leadoff leg Kim McGruder said. "We knew if we came in ready to compete, we knew we were capable of breaking a record." Unlike the the men's events, three different schools won watches in the women's distance relays. The most hotly contested of these races was the DM. Since 1991, only one team had run under 11 minutes in this event, but three squads were under that barrier this year. Tulane anchor Hanne Lyngstad took the baton in sixth place, but ran a 4:30.3 1600 meters to lead the Green Wave to a first-place finish. In the men's 4x400 -- the final event of the relays -- Mississippi was the victor in a time of 3:05.19. Rebels anchor Alonzo Banks had to hold off Auburn's Avoro Moncur -- who ran a 44.7 split -- to win by a mere 4/100ths of a second. "I had people in the stands saying that Old Miss could not win and we were sleepers," Mississippi's third leg, Savante Stringfellow, said. "That motivated us, especially me, to prove them wrong." Other highlights of the collegiate relays included the men's 4x100 and 4x200 races. In both races, four teams were within a half-second of each other at the line. Clemson's Shawn Crawford edged out Florida's Daymon Carroll in the 4x100 to win in 39.48. "When I got the baton all I could hear was coach drilling us in practice," Crawford said. "I thought to myself, 'I can't let him down. I can't let my team down. I can't let Clemson down.' And that just gave me the extra push to pull ahead." Less than 90 minutes later, Florida avenged its second-place finish in the 4x100 with a victory in the 4x200. "We were all so mad about the 4x100," Florida's second leg, John Capel, said. "We lost by the length of a guy, and it was our second worst time of the year. So this time, we knew we had to win to redeem ourselves. We weren't going to lose this one."
(04/23/99 9:00am)
The Quakers visit Yale and Brown with a .500 Ivy season in their sights. While the Penn softball team is out of the running for the Ivy League championship, the Quakers still have much to play for in their final six games. Penn needs just two wins to finish with the most victories in a season since 1981. And the Quakers (13-18, 2-6 Ivy League) can also even their record in the Ancient Eight with a pair of doubleheader sweeps on the road this weekend against Yale and Brown. "It's great that at the end of the season there's still so much that we can control [and] so much we can accomplish," Penn senior shortstop Sherryl Fodera said. The Quakers are a game ahead of both of this weekend's Ivy League opponents, Yale (21-17-1, 1-5) and Brown (8-24, 1-5), in the league standings. The Quakers will be at Yale's Central Avenue Field at 1 p.m. tomorrow and Brown's Erickson Athletic Complex at the same time on Sunday. Last year, Penn was outscored by a combined 29-4 margin against the Elis and Bears but the Quakers proved last Sunday against Dartmouth that they can beat Ivy foes; Penn swept a doubleheader against the Big Green for their first league wins since the 1997 season. Location may play a factor in the doubleheader against Yale, however. The Elis have posted a record of 11-3-1 at Central Avenue Field while going 10-14 away from New Haven, Conn. Unlike most teams Penn has played against this season, Yale is a running team. The Elis have 58 stolen bases as a team -- 20 each by shortstop Kathy Ching and outfielder Monica Lebron. "We worked hard with pitchers this year to get ahead in the count to prevent a hit and run or steal opportunity," Penn coach Carol Kashow said. "Hopefully we can get ahead of the count [against Yale] and make it hard for them to run." After the weekend's Ivy excursion to New England, the Quakers head home to take on a tough St. Joseph's team at Warren Field at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. "By the time we get back [on Sunday night] it could be 1:00 in the morning," Penn third baseman Jen Moore said. "That could be tough for us to play [Monday] afternoon." St. Joseph's (24-22-1) is led by its star pitcher-outfielder Christina Kowalski. The Hawks junior has earned a 14-7 record on the mound with a 1.53 ERA and also pitched a perfect game earlier this year against Rhode Island. Kowalski is dangerous with the bat as well, hitting .328 with five homers and 25 RBIs. The doubleheader on Monday will mark the final time seniors Fodera and Narda Quigley will be in Quakers uniforms. While Fodera has started every game for Penn this season, Quigley has just four hits in her four years as a Quaker. Although she usually only sees action as a pinch-runner, Quigley is one of the most inspirational players on the team. "I think if you cut her she would bleed red and blue," Kashow said. "And her heart is as big as a softball field." Fodera, who has been Quigley's roommate for the past three years, agrees. "She has this aura about her that makes people want to be around her," Fodera said. But it is not likely that Quigley will get extended playing time in the final six games. Kashow does not like to change her "best 10 people start" policy, especially considering the milestones the Quakers can reach. "We talked about how the Ivy League situation was very similar to the Florida situation for us," Kashow said. "We had dug ourselves a hole in Florida -- we were only 2-5 with three games left. We're in the same situation in the Ivies -- two wins and six losses with four more games to play." Penn won its last three on the Florida spring break trip to finish at .500 for the trip. A similar finish to the Ivy season -- four wins against Yale and Brown -- would allow the Quakers to do something they have not done since 1984: finish at .500 in the Ivy League.
(04/22/99 9:00am)
Sherryl Fodera's hitting powered the Quakers to their fourth straight win. Four in a row. The Penn softball team finally has a winning streak. After sweeping Dartmouth on Sunday, the Quakers (13-18) stayed hot with a pair of wins against Lafayette (4-32) yesterday at Metzgar Field. Penn won the first game 7-5 on the strength of Sherryl Fodera's two-run homer. On a hit and run, Fodera smashed a Michelle Garvey pitch over the left field fence. The long ball -- Fodera's third of '99 -- tied the Penn senior with Sharon Gross for second on the Quakers' all-time single-season home run list. Fodera dominated the box score, going a combined 4-for-8 at the plate with a double, two steals and two RBIs. Penn used a four-run third inning to carry hurler Suzanne Arbogast to a 4-2 victory in the second game. The Quakers sent 10 players to the plate and capitalized on subpar Lafayette fielding to score four runs in the third. Lafayette committed nine errors in the two games; the Leopards' poor fielding led to four unearned runs for Penn. Michelle Zaptin and Arbogast held Lafayette in check while posting complete game wins. Zaptin gave up seven hits and four earned runs, while Arbogast allowed just seven baserunners. Despite the wins, Penn coach Carol Kashow was not completely satisfied. "Overall, we weren't as sharp as we'd like to be," Kashow said. "Even though we weren't at our best we still came away with a doubleheader win."
(04/21/99 9:00am)
The 105th Running of the Penn Relay Carnival Sophomore Darryl Olczak thought his chance to compete at the Penn Relays last year had come and gone. The then-freshman had been scheduled to run in the 4x200-meter relay but the Quakers botched the first exchange and Olczak -- the third leg on the team -- never got to run. But his luck would change as teammate Shawn Fernandes' injury opened up a spot for Olczak in the 4x100-meter relay. Saturday afternoon, Franklin Field was teeming with people. And Darryl Olczak finally had his chance to run. "That was really awesome," Olczak said. "One of the top three track experiences in my life. All the people are at the Penn Relays for track. They know about track. They know all about what they're talking about and enjoying watching it." This Friday and Saturday, Penn will be just one of hundreds of college teams competing at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field. In a meet that will include 18,000 athletes, the Quakers will be little fish in a big pond. But they will soak in every bit of the electric atmosphere that they can. "As far as I'm concerned it's the greatest track meet in the world," Penn jumper Stanley Anderson said. "This is like Christmas to me." While most of the track events are relays, Anderson will be among the individuals competing in field events. The Penn senior -- who leapt 50'06.25'' at the Penn Relays last year to win the Eastern triple jump -- is scheduled to compete in both the triple jump and the long jump this year. Fellow senior Dan Nord was slated to compete in the long jump and the 4x100-meter relay this weekend but a hamstring pull will keep him out of action in the largest track meet outside of the Olympics. "It's great to be on the field warming up next to a gold medalist like Michael Johnson or Allen Johnson," Nord said. But isn't it intimidating? "It would be for the other teams," Nord said. "But the athletes see our Penn jackets and know it's our home field and give us a lot of respect for that." Penn will likely field a 4x100-meter, 4x400-meter and a distance medley team on the track this weekend. But injuries have depleted the Quakers relay teams, as Nord, Olczak, Mike Aguilar and Sean MacMillan have all been banged up to an extent. The qualifying rounds for the 4x100 and 4x400 meters are on Friday at noon and 3:15 p.m., respectively. The top teams from those heats will compete again on Saturday afternoon. The distance medley, meanwhile, is just one race -- a final at 1 p.m. on Friday. Mark Granshaw, Craig Douglas, Andrew Girardin and MacMillan are likely to be Penn's representatives in the DM. The Quakers team that included Douglas and Girardin finished eighth last year in a time of 9:52.89. While most of the competition will take place for Penn this weekend, some Quakers competitors are already competing in the decathlon. The 10-event individual competition started yesterday and will finish today. But some high school relays have already begun on the track and Olczak was there to watch. "Already just the atmosphere is getting to me," Olczak said. "I'm already getting excited and it's just Tuesday." In some ways the Penn Relays are the biggest races of the year for the Quakers athletes. Although the Heptagonal races next month may be more important in terms of team and individual performances, the Penn Relays are larger in the eyes of many. "The difference between Heps and the Penn Relays is like the difference between a regular season game and the Super Bowl," Olczak said. "A lot of people don't come out to every regular season game but when the Super Bowl comes up they get real excited." Yes, the Penn Relays are like the Super Bowl of track and field. But no one comes to Franklin Field for the commercials.
(04/20/99 9:00am)
The Penn men's track team destroyed Cornell 114-49 in a dual meet last year. This year the Big Red exacted revenge. Cornell won 10 of the 19 events on Saturday as the Big Red (3-1, 1-0 Ivy League) beat visiting Penn (0-2, 0-2) 93-61 at Kane Sports Complex. "We have a better team than we did last year," Cornell coach Lou Duesing said. "It's a team that's very young with a lot of freshmen. It takes time for them to get adjusted and acclimated to college competition." While the Quakers had an edge in the field events, the Big Red won the meet by dominating on the track. Cornell took first in eight of the 11 track events but an early mishap on the track almost spelled doom for the Big Red. Cornell's 4x100-meter relay team was disqualified after dropping its baton outside of the passing zone. Penn also suffered from a dropped baton but the Quakers avoided the disheartening DQ. "I thought at that point we had given the meet away," Duesing said. "Sometimes as the 4x100 goes, so does the meet." But Cornell came back in the next event -- the 1500 meters -- as three of the top four finishers were Big Red runners. Cornell's Colin Moore outlasted teammate Geoff Van Fleet and Quakers junior Mark Granshaw to win the race in 3:55.5. Cornell took first in every race longer than 400 meters on Saturday. The 800-meter showdown between Cornell's Greg Cipolaro and Penn's Andrew Girardin was no different as the Big Red again came out on top. In the race, Girardin stayed on Cipolaro's shoulder for the first lap and then took the lead going into the first turn of the second and final lap. But Cipolaro stayed right behind the Penn sophomore, pulling even with him coming out of the last turn. The race turned into a 100-meter sprint and the faster Cipolaro won by 64/100ths of a second. "I didn't run a very smart race," Girardin said. "Cipolaro can outkick me in the last 100 meters in just about anything. My goal was to run the third 200 faster and I just didn't." John Novak was the Big Red winner in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:59.92. The Cornell distance runner -- who missed the entire indoor season after slipping on snow outside of his apartment -- tied his personal record in only his third race this year. Penn did take first place in the 400-meter hurdles -- the closest event of the day. The Quakers' Craig Douglas defeated Cornell hurdler David Winn by just 1/100th of a second, 53.55 to 53.56. "They were pretty much neck and neck the whole race," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "Craig was ahead after three hurdles and they were together after hurdle number five. Craig pulled ahead just after the last turn and held [Winn] off." The Quakers kept the meet close with their performances in the field events. Penn had the top finisher in each of the four events -- Matt Daghasotti in the hammer throw, Brent Stiles in the shot put, Matt Pagliasotti in the discus and Seth Beaver in the javelin. But while the Quakers swept the top three spots in the javelin throw, they did not have the depth in the other throwing events; Cornell took second and third place in the other three throws. Penn's Stan Anderson was the only multiple winner on the day as he took first in both the high jump (6'9.75'') and the triple jump (49'5.25').
(04/19/99 9:00am)
The Penn softball team swept Dartmouth yesterday to claim its first Ivy wins since 1997. The Penn softball team had been 0-18 in Ivy League games in coach Carol Kashow's two-year tenure. So Kashow's dignity did not seem to be in jeopardy when she told the team that she would do a "tripod" on the mound if the Quakers swept a doubleheader against Dartmouth yesterday. Four hours and two wins later, the Penn coach was head down on the pitcher's mound while her players cheered her on. "You'd think the excitement of the game would make them forget," Kashow said. "But I felt I did a pretty good tripod and that was good, but not as good as the doubleheader win. The Ivy monkey on our back just got off today." The Quakers (11-18, 2-6 Ivy League) had been swept in a doubleheader, 8-0 and 6-1, on Saturday at Warren Field by Harvard (14-14, 6-0). But with 6-5 and 2-1 home victories over the Big Green (10-19, 2-6) yesterday, Penn earned its first Ivy wins since April 27, 1997. The unlikely hero for the Quakers against Dartmouth was catcher Sarah Dominic. After starting for two years, the junior had lost her job to freshman Molly Meehan. But Kashow gave Dominic the start behind the plate yesterday, moving Meehan to second. "Our second baseman [Jamie Pallas] struggled in the games [on Saturday against Harvard] and didn't play hard," Kashow said. "So it was time to rattle the roost a little." The lineup switch could not have worked better for Penn. Meehan, though hitless at the plate, played a flawless second base. Dominic, meanwhile, had a three-run double in the third inning of the first game. Her blast over Dartmouth centerfielder Sarah Damon's head gave the Quakers a 6-3 lead. "[Big Green pitcher Laura Mills] gave me a good pitch to hit and I just hit it to center," Dominic said. "I've been hitting well in practice and I've been choking in the game so it's nice to go against another team and do something well." Pitcher Suzanne Arbogast had held the 6-3 lead for Penn until the final frame but the Quakers almost blew their chance to win. Dartmouth scored two in the seventh and had runners on second and third when Arbogast struck out Erica Morganstein for the final out of the game. Penn's offense, which scored six runs on eight hits in the first game yesterday, was not as potent in the second game. The Quakers were held to just two runs on three hits but they were still able to squeak by the Big Green. Key to the Penn win was a suicide squeeze by pinch hitter Kari Feinberg with two runners in scoring position in the fifth. Kashow's aggressive strategy worked perfectly as Zaptin slid by Dartmouth catcher Carrie Giugliano to score the first run of the game. "I was in the box right before the first pitch and Carol just said to be ready for the suicide," Feinberg said. "I knew that since I swung at the first pitch and fouled it off, they were going to back up on defense." Dominic, who had been on second when the squeeze was called, moved up to third and scored on an errant pickoff throw to give Penn a 2-0 lead. The way Quakers pitcher Michelle Zaptin had been pitching, the lead seemed safe. Through the first five innings, Zaptin did not allow a Dartmouth hit. But Big Green right fielder Kate Winter broke up the no-hitter in the sixth. She led off with a single and scored on Penn leftfielder Clarisa Apostol's misplay of a Carrie Hoverman single. Dartmouth would not have another baserunner in the game, however. Zaptin allowed just two hits in a seven-inning complete game victory. On Saturday, the Quakers lost a pair of games to the Crimson. In the first game, Harvard took advantage of five walks and three errors by Penn to invoke the eight-run mercy rule. The Red and Blue had opportunities to win the second game but left eight runners on base in a 6-1 loss. Penn outhit the Crimson 8-7 in that game. The lineup changes for the Quakers on Sunday altered Penn's fortunes, however. Kashow will not say whether the switches are permanent but the Penn coach is not likely to mess with the team's success in the upcoming games at Lafayette on Wednesday. "We just won two games in the Ivies for the first time in two years so it gives me a really good reason to put [Dominic and Meehan's] names in the lineup," Kashow said. "I always say, 'Give me a reason to put your name in the lineup.' Both Molly and Sarah gave me a reason."
(04/15/99 9:00am)
Cornell is supposed to be an Ivy rival for Penn. But last summer, the Big Red and Quakers men's track teams broke down the Ivy walls between them; the two programs competed jointly against teams in England. Cornell and Penn will again be foes this Saturday, however, as the Quakers (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) travel to Kane Sports Complex for a 10 a.m. dual meet against the Big Red (2-1, 0-0). "A lot of the rivalries that were kind of snarling [went] by the board," Cornell coach Lou Duesing said. "That happens when you're a combined team going against Oxford and Cambridge." The connection between the two programs goes further than just last summer's trip. Cornell triple jumper J.P. Pollak, who transferred from Penn last year, will jump against current Quakers Stan Anderson and Tuan Wreh on Saturday. "It's an underlying thing that [Pollak] needs to be beaten every time out," Wreh said. "We need to show him that our triple jumpers are just better. We don't want him to think he can go to another school and their program will be better than [Penn coach] Charlie Powell's." Pollak finished sixth in the triple jump at the Indoor Heptagonals, 3'5" behind Anderson's first-place jump. Anderson will also face tough competition in the long jump. The Penn senior won the long jump with a 22'9.25'' leap last Saturday against Princeton, but Cornell had two jumpers -- Nat Toothaker and Nick Senter -- over 22 feet the same day in the Columbia Open. One of the top matchups on Saturday will feature Penn's Andrew Girardin and Cornell's Greg Cipolaro in the 800 meters. Cipolaro, the indoor Heptagonals champ in the 800, has consistently beaten the Penn sophomore. But Girardin's time last weekend (1:52.0) was 69/100ths of a second faster than Cipolaro's. "It should be a good, tough race," Duesing said. "Greg has a faster personal best (1:50.9) but it'll probably be something like elbow to elbow." Girardin will also be racing against the clock on Saturday. He needs to run 1:51.6 to qualify for IC4As. The pole vault competition should also be tight. Two Big Red seniors -- Nathan Jauvtis and Greg Schlachter -- will be chasing Penn's Aaron Prokopec. The Quakers sophomore finished first at the Indoor Heptagonals and cleared 16'6'' last Saturday. Juniors Bob Reynolds and John Church could also factor in the pole vault scoring for the Quakers. Last year, Penn trounced Cornell in this dual meet, 114-49. But Cornell -- which holds a 47-39 advantage in the all-time series -- has been more competitive this season. "Any team has a chance to beat any other team," Girardin said. "Our guys are working real hard and 50 percent of our team PRed [against Princeton]. Hopefully, we can get the other half of the team to PR." According to Penn junior Sean MacMillan, the Quakers will have no shortage of motivation against Cornell on Saturday. "We want to beat them because we know them," he said.
(04/14/99 9:00am)
The Quakers find themselves in danger of an 0-12 Ivy season unless their bats can come to life. The numbers are not pretty. In fact, they are downright ugly. A .122 team batting average. A .143 on-base percentage. An ERA of 9.10. With these statistics, it should come as no surprise that the Penn softball team is 0-4 in its Ivy League games this season. Last year the Quakers were 0-12 against the other Ivies. Although Penn started the season at 8-7, nine losses in their last 10 games -- including all four Ivy games -- have raised the possibility of another winless Ivy season. "Of course it's in the back of our minds -- especially for the returning players," Penn junior Suzanne Arbogast said. "But I'm absolutely confident that we won't [finish 0-12 again]." Penn has been swept in both of its Ivy League doubleheaders. Princeton won 3-2 and 14-1, while Cornell whitewashed the Quakers in both games last Sunday, 9-0 and 6-0. Only 12 Quakers have reached base in the four games -- an average of just three per game. Four players -- Christine Fenyus, Clarisa Apostol, Jen Moore and Jaime Hojdila -- have combined for Penn's 10 hits. Granted, the Quakers pitchers have given up 32 runs in 20 innings, but poor hitting is more of a concern to the team. Against Cornell, Penn had just four baserunners in two games. "The lack of offense is what's been killing us all season," Penn catcher Molly Meehan said. "Our pitchers both threw really well. [The Big Red] were just hitting the ball all over the field." The Quakers have four Ivy games in each of the next two weekends. They will host Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend and will travel to Yale and Dartmouth on April 24 and 25. "I can't even conceive of the fact that this team can't win a couple games in the Ivies," Penn coach Carol Kashow said. "We're 0-4 now but we've got eight more games to go." The last Ivy League win for Penn was a 5-3 decision at Dartmouth on April 27, 1997. · In 1997, catcher Sarah Dominic garnered honorable mention All-Ivy honors as a freshman. Last year she started 34 of Penn's 39 games. But this year freshman Molly Meehan has captured the starting job behind the plate. "Coming in, I assumed I would be the backup," Meehan said. "But in the first game in Florida, [Kashow] had me in the starting lineup." Dominic, who batted .213 last season, has found it a little difficult to adjust to a diminished workload on the field this season. "It's been really different," Dominic said. "I've had to learn to take an entirely different role. I definitely needed to learn how to do the cheering from the bench." Dominic's teammates have also had some adjusting to do. Seeing Dominic on the bench instead of behind the plate has been difficult for the players who had grown used to playing alongside her. "As upperclassmen it's hard when a freshman comes in and takes away the job of someone you've played two years with," junior Michelle Zaptin said. Penn still sees more of Dominic than Meehan at the plate, however. Dominic is 2-for-12 on the season, while Meehan is hitless in just five at-bats this year. The Penn freshman has been replaced in most games with a designated hitter. "I've always batted for all my other teams, so it surprised me," Meehan said. "In the beginning I felt like I couldn't contribute to the team if I'm not hitting, but I guess I'm getting used to it." Dominic, who played outfield and third base before converting to catcher, has been used in a more utility role this season, although her primary position is still catcher. "I'll play wherever [Kashow] feels that I might help," Dominic said. "I try just as hard wherever she puts me in practice." · The Quakers often gather together for home-cooked meals. Their favorite dish? Zaptin's chicken pot pie. "Michelle Zaptin cooks the best chicken pot pie," Penn freshman Jen Moore said. "I've never had pot pie before but hers is just so incredible!" Zaptin is a little surprised at all the publicity her specialty dish garners. "Everywhere I go people ask me about them [the pot pies]," Zaptin said. "[The team members] all seem to really like them so I just keep making them." Team dinners help the Quakers bond and bonding is especially important for Penn in the midst of a midseason slump. "The most important thing for us is to stay together and not argue," Dominic said. And what better to keep the team close-knit than a fresh-out-of-the-oven chicken pot pie?
(04/09/99 9:00am)
Jen Moore and Clarisa Apostol both attended Bishop Eustace Preparatory High School. They both play softball for Penn. And they have the top two batting averages on the team. But they are nothing alike. Moore strikes fear into the heart of opposing batters. She stands just 30 feet away from home -- halfway down the third-base line -- in her position at third, a scowl on her face. "I would hate to have her breathing down my neck when I'm batting," Moore's younger sister Christina said. "She's just right there." Apostol, meanwhile, plays with a smile on her face. Her warmup routine with senior Narda Quigley in left field even includes a 360-degree touchdown dance and ensuing spike -- with a softball, of course. "She doesn't look tough," Moore said, "but her spirit for the game is tough. People are scared of me. People aren't scared of [her]." Although Moore and Apostol play with vastly different styles, both have produced results offensively and defensively. Moore, a power hitter, is hitting .300 and leads the team in doubles (seven), RBIs (14) and slugging percentage (.500). Apostol, a speedy leadoff hitter, leads the team with a .333 batting average and 15 runs scored. In addition, she has not committed a single error this season in leftfield. Differences between the two are not limited to their play between the foul lines, however. Moore is the confident one. She can be outspoken, opinionated and occasionally lacking in diplomacy. "She's strong in every way -- emotionally and physically," Christina Moore said. "She's determined and stubborn." The Atlo, N.J., native also has no shortage of hobbies. She has played organized basketball, soccer and field hockey. She skateboards and plays the guitar. And she is a cigar connoisseur. "I smoke and study cigars," said Moore, who prefers Ashton cigars. "I study how they wrap them, where the wrappers come from, the taste of them. I go to the bookstore and read Cigar Afficionado all the time." Apostol, on the other hand, is rumored to have never been angry in her life. She takes everything with a grain of salt and remains ever tactful. The Wharton freshman was also her high school's valedictorian and class president. "The thing about her is she is pretty successful in anything she does and it always amazes me how carefree she is about everything," said Apostol's brother Jeff, a College sophomore. "She seems to have fun in everything she does." The two teammates first met four years ago in high school, but Moore remembers Apostol from youth softball. "We played against each other when we were like 14," Moore said. "We didn't really know each other but I recognized her because she threw weird." In high school, Moore and Apostol were part of a Bishop Eustace program that won three New Jersey Parochial A State Championships while compiling a record of 101-13. Although Penn's softball program is improving, it has been difficult for the two freshmen to not win 89 percent of their games. "You never realize how pampered we were," Apostol said. "But the coaches want us to keep that attitude. I just don't see how this [Penn] team could have gone 0-12 [in the Ivies last year]." At Bishop Eustace, Apostol played junior varsity in her freshman year, while Moore stepped into a starting role immediately, wasting no time in impressing her high school coach. "In her freshman year she was trying out for third base," Bishop Eustace softball coach Mike Sacca said. "A line drive hit her dead in the stomach. She picked it up and threw the ball to first base like it was routine. I knew right then and there that she was special and I wouldn't have to worry about third base for the next four years." Apostol, meanwhile, was not even sure if she would play softball at Penn until the spring of her senior year. But Quakers coach Carol Kashow's trip to Bishop Eustace -- to recruit Moore -- changed Apostol's mind. On back-to-back plays, Apostol impressed Kashow by making a diving catch in the outfield and swatting a home run. Assured that softball would not hurt her grades, Apostol made the decision to play left field for Penn. Next year the Quakers will have another Bishop Eustace player on the team, shortstop Crista Farrell. But the re-creation of the Pennsauken prep school's left side of the field has already begun with Moore and Apostol this year. "It's so much more comforting when you start out and you don't really know everybody and I look over and Jen's still there, two feet from the plate," Apostol said. Despite all their differences, Moore and Apostol have two things in common. One is that they hate to run. This is especially surprising for Apostol. Moore calls her "Legs" because of her speed, but like her fellow Bishop Eustace alumnus, Apostol loathes running. "Softball's where it's at because we don't run," Moore said with a grin. But they had no problem staying hours after practice last Thursday for a game of home run derby. And the other thing Moore and Apostol have in common? A love for the game.
(04/09/99 9:00am)
The Penn softball team ended its six-game losing streak yesterday in the first game of a doubleheader against Lehigh. But the Quakers could not have done it without some help from a backup outfielder and a questionable call at first base. Penn (9-14) was leading 4-2 with two outs in the seventh, but Lehigh (12-16) was still very much alive. The Engineers had runners on first and second and their No. 3 hitter, Bonnie Hoffman, at the plate. Hoffman hit what looked to be a routine single in front of rightfielder Lindsay Wagner. But Wagner -- who pinch-ran in the fifth and then stayed in the game for defensive purposes -- reeled back and gunned a shocked Hoffman out at first. Lehigh rally dead. Game over. Penn win. "I don't think she threw me out," Hoffman said. "The umpire said I was out but I think it was a pretty close play and could have gone either way. Maybe he was just trying to end the game early." The winning ways for the Quakers would be short-lived, however. Lehigh shut down Penn 6-0 in the second game to earn a doubleheader split. Early in the first game, Penn appeared on its way to a seventh straight loss. Lehigh had a 1-0 lead three batters into the game and was threatening to put more runs on the board. But pitcher Suzanne Arbogast masterfully worked her way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam. The Penn hurler started a 1-2-3 double play on a Stephanie Rapel ground ball and got Christine Duncan to foul out to end the inning. Lehigh wasted another bases loaded, no-out opportunity in the fifth, scoring only one more run. "We've been coming through in those situations the past couple weeks," Lehigh coach Fran Trojan said. "We really squandered a couple of opportunities." Penn third baseman Jen Moore, meanwhile, had better luck in the clutch than the Lehigh batters. She hit a two-out, two-run double to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth. The second game was dominated by Lehigh pitcher Emily Deia, who was making just her third collegiate start. The Engineers sophomore, who is coming off a serious knee injury, allowed only two Quakers hits in a complete-game shutout. "She's deceptively quick because she mixes her speeds a whole lot," Trojan said. "She'll throw one pitch in at 48 miles per hour and the next one will be 60. She did a nice job of keeping Penn's offense off-balance." Penn will play again on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Cornell at Niemand-Robison Field. Cornell (18-6, 0-0 Ivy) outscored Penn in a doubleheader sweep last year by a margin of 18-0. "I saw [Penn] play Cornell last year and every girl has the same swing," the freshman Moore said. "They're all like 5'4'' but they're all big. I expect them to come out hitting the ball hard and to be really aggressive on the basepaths. They're definitely the best team in the Ivies. "Their coach's name is Dick Blood. A coach with a name of Blood -- doesn't that scare you?"
(04/02/99 10:00am)
As April rolls around, the color green becomes increasingly prevalent. But green is not only the color of spring -- it is the color of Ivy. And just as spring is fast appearing, the Penn women's track team faces its first Ivy foe of the season. At the University of Pennsylvania Invitational tomorrow, the Quakers welcome several quality teams, including Ivy rival Cornell. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and no precipitation is in the forecast for tomorrow at the U of P Invite. The meet, which will begin at 10 a.m. at Franklin Field, should be Penn's first outdoor meet without cold and windy conditions. "We're hoping that we stay dry and warm, or at least not cold," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. "Nothing happens when it's cold. People tighten up, everyone gets depressed. Cold weather is just less conducive to performance." The U of P Invite is traditionally a very competitive meet with a plethora of Pennsylvania schools -- including Kutztown, St. Joseph's and Penn State. No Penn athletes will have an easy meet individually, either. Quakers captain Jessica Mitchell will be facing a pair of strong Cornell seniors, Jessica Shaw and Christine Groneman, in the 800 meter run. "I beat both of them indoors at Heps but they have both beaten me before," Mitchell said. Shaw, a second-team All-Ivy performer last year in the 800, has a personal record of 2:08.7, while Groneman has run a 2:09.7. Mitchell ran a 2:11.76 last weekend at the Raleigh Relays. "It was my best performance so far this year," Mitchell said. "I came within a second of my PR [2:10] which I haven't seen for a year and a half." Senior distance runner Rita Garber also faces a tough opponent tomorrow in Cornell's Emily Germano. The Big Red junior took first in both the 3000 and the 5000 at the indoor Heps. She ran a 17:09 in the 5000 -- 23 seconds ahead of fourth-place Garber -- but her 3000 was only five seconds faster than the Penn captain. While Germano's 5000 time last Saturday for Cornell in a quadrangular meet at UC Irvine increased by 13 seconds to 17:22, Garber has improved her 3000 time from Heps. She ran a 9:55.75 in Ithaca at Heps, but finished in 9:54.61 last weekend at Raleigh. Cornell will be a primary team focus for Penn on Saturday, but Penn State might be Penn's toughest competition. The Nittany Lions competed at the Raleigh Relays as well last weekend. They had three top 10 finishers, while the Quakers had five place in the top 10. One of these three top place winners was long jumper Shakeema Walker, a senior from Philadelphia. Walker finished third in Raleigh, as her jump (19'9'') was more than seven inches further than that of Penn's Bassey Adjah (19'1.5''). "She's very tall and has long legs," Adjah said. "I use my speed for my jumps while she uses her whole body." Adjah cleared 19 feet for the first time ever last Friday after a week off from long jumping. Her coaches have tried the same tactics this week, believing that the way for her to improve in the long jump is to work on running. "I use my speed down the runway to jump," Adjah said. "I do mostly running to improve my jumping." Cornell sophomore Karen Chastain placed in all four throwing events last weekend, but the Quakers don't look to pose a challenge to her. Penn's throwers have struggled throughout this outdoor season. "The technical events take a little more time," Tenisci said. "And the intermediate hurdles, hammer throw, javelin and discus are not done indoors. These people have had the shortest time to prepare." The competition tomorrow will not be quite as strong as that which Penn faced in Raleigh, but the Quakers are looking forward to measuring themselves against an Ivy League foe. "It's gonna definitely be good for us to see some Ivy before Heps," Penn's Ja Juan Gair said.
