Sam Burley called the Franklin Field track home for four years, but he might find it a tad strange when he hits the red track during the Penn Relays this weekend. Instead of donning Red and Blue in the college events earlier in the weekend, the 2003 graduate and former Penn Track star will be running in the Distance Medley Relay this Saturday.

It's all out of their hands now. After finishing over .500 at 23-17 for the first time in 23 years, the Quakers have done their work this season. And now the Penn softball team will have to wait for the results of the Cornell and Princeton clashes over the weekend to find out if it will get another game this season.

The experience of college athletes at the Penn Relays may best be summed up by Arkansas runner Adam Perkins: "Just give me the baton." As usual, an all-star cast of collegiate teams will descend upon Franklin Field this weekend. With 240 colleges and universities, from Abilene Christian to York, bringing teams and individuals to participate in the relays, there are thousands of storylines to follow.

Running is the individual. It is how fast you can go, how hard you can push your body, how badly you want that time, and how much you want to beat yourself. It is about you and your personal performance. Or so the thinking goes. The women of the Quakers' 4x800-meter relay, however, beg to differ.

This season, it seems as though the men's heavyweight crew team can't help but settle for a second-place finish. The Quakers took second yet again this weekend in the Blackwell Cup against Yale and Columbia after the same result against Columbia and Princeton the previous time out.

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Penn can now party like it's 1997. With a 13-1 thrashing of Cornell yesterday, the Quakers clinched at least a share of their first Gehrig Division crown in a decade. "It's huge - it shows that Penn baseball is making a turn for the better," said captain Doug Brown, who pitched the final four innings to get the win.

All that Penn sophomore J.J. Lian could say about Saturday's game was "that third quarter really killed us." It didn't matter that for a little over 49 minutes on the field, No. 8 Maryland was forced to play an unexpected game of catch-up against the Quakers.

It's been over 45 years since the last time an Ivy League college won the prized Distance Medley event at the Penn Relays. This weekend at the Relays, Penn will be relying on a strong finish from one of its top athletes to try to steal a win.

The men's golf team had won the Ivy League championship once in its 32 year program history. But make that twice now. The Quakers took home their second Ivy trophy Sunday afternoon, beating second place Brown by ten shots at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey.

Their final game isn't for two weeks, but for the Quakers, tomorrow's matchup might as well be the last one. No. 8 Maryland visits Franklin Field tomorrow in a game that may be the Penn men's lacrosse team's last hope for a playoff bid. While the regular-season finale is on May 5 against Denver, a win against the ACC powerhouse could put Penn (6-5, 3-3 Ivy) squarely on the bubble.

For Penn women's tennis coach Mike Dowd, things are simply going according to plan. His Quakers head into their final weekend of Ancient Eight play with an undefeated record in the league and a firm hold on first place - an impressive performance by any standard.

This season, it seems as though the men's heavy-weight crew team can't help but settle for a second place finish. The squad took second yet again this weekend in the Blackwell Cup against Yale and Columbia after the same finish against Columbia and Princeton the previous weekend.

"The Ivy League golf championship is not for the weak at heart," said Penn men's coach Rob Powelson. For Penn and its Ivy League foes, postseason play depends solely on who wins the Ivy League championship tournament, which will be held tomorrow and Sunday in Galloway, N.

When the Tigers roll into Meiklejohn Stadium this weekend, they'll be the underdogs at two games back in the division.

All that Penn sophomore J.J. Lian could say about Saturday's game was "that third quarter really killed us." It didn't matter that for a little over 49 minutes on the field, No. 8 Maryland was forced to play an unexpected game of catch-up against the Quakers.

Junior Christina Khosravi is doing it for the seniors. The whole Penn softball team is. This weekend, the Quakers (21-15, 12-4 Ivy) travel to Princeton, N.J. to play the Tigers (18-25, 8-4) in two doubleheader matches that could clinch the Ivy League South Division title for the Quakers and give them a berth to the League Championships.