M. Track cut short by the weather

The Penn men's track team was excited to begin the outdoor season and escape the confines of sketchy indoor track facilities but yesterday's Quaker Invitational was probably not what the athletes had in mind. "It was like a typhoon," junior Penn distance runner John Krol said. Although the meet was not scored, Mother Nature was the big winner when the final events of the meet were cancelled due to the wet and cold conditions. "We've never cancelled a meet before," said Penn coach Nathan Taylor, who said he has not seen meet-day weather this bad in his 25 years of coaching. The first meet of the outdoor season featured relatively local teams such as Temple, Fordham, La Salle and Delaware State. The competition was not fierce, with some of the athletes describing it as a "glorified workout." The Invite began at 10 a.m. with the hammer throw. Penn junior Matt Pagliasotti and sophomore Kyle Turley took first and second place with throws of 54.90 meters and 52.86 meters, respectively. Both distances qualified the throwers for IC4As. "Considering the week of practice and the change to the outdoor events, I was content with what I did," said Turley, a Nashua, N.H., native. "Everyone was kind of miserable about the weather. In the locker room everyone was like, 'Oh my god, it's so cold.'" Although the weather factored into many disappointing performances, there were athletes that persevered and finished well in spite of the conditions. One such diamond in the rough was thrower Seth Beaver. Beaver finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 61.02 meters, a personal record for the sophomore. Beaver will join Turley and Pagliasotti at ICs in late May. "Some people did really well," Taylor said. "I was particularly pleased with the hammer throwers. Both Matt and Kyle qualified for the IC4As and Seth Beaver PRed by about 5 feet -- [he] cracked 200 feet." The distance team showed some signs of life after a tough indoor season. Penn senior John Horrocks paced the 5,000-meter field in 15:24.26. Close behind was freshman Matt Gioffre -- with a time of 15:35.62 -- who also led all Quakers in the 1,500-meter run with a 15th-place finish. Sophomore distance runner Andrew Girardin, who missed the majority of the indoor season, ran the 800 meters in 1:57.14 en route to a fourth-place finish. "I didn't think I ran well but I don't think it was because of the weather," Girardin said. "I didn't run a very smart race. I'm not happy with my performance." When Girardin was healthy during the winter season, he was one of the bright spots in a struggling distance team, but he does not feel that the squad has reached its potential. "I think promise is there," Girardin said. "With the attitudes that we have on the team and the work ethic we have, we're going to eventually turn it around." In the 400 meters, Penn sophomore Darryl Olczak finished third in 49.66. Taylor is pleased that he is beginning to realize his potential in the event. Taylor was also pleased with the effort of junior Shawn Fernandes, who placed third in the 100 meters with a time of 11.04 seconds. "I think some of the events would've looked better [in better weather]," Taylor said. Needless to say, the Quakers are hoping for better weather next week at North Carolina State. It couldn't get much worse.

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