M. Track faces top foes in Raleigh

The Penn men's track team's world-class foes included one of the "World's Strongest Men." The Penn men's track team had the opportunity to compete with world-class athletes this past Friday and Saturday in the Raleigh Relays. One of those competitors was Kevin Toth, who had the world's second-longest throw in the shot put last year and represented the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics. But people know him for more than his track-and-field abilities. You may have seen Toth while watching early morning reruns of the World's Strongest Man competition on ESPN2, where he finished sixth out of eight men in 1997. Although Toth did not have a great overall competition in the U.S. Strongman final, he did finish first in the tire throw and second in the barrel load. "I wanted to live large [coming into the meet] but I wasn't the biggest man out there," said 280-lb. Penn thrower Kyle Turley. "[Toth] was heavier than I was -- fives times heavier. He could've flipped our bus over if he wanted to." This was not entirely true. Although it is doubtful that he could actually tip a bus over, he proved that he could pull one for 37.12 seconds in the 1997 competition. Although Turley, a Nashua, N.H., native, had the opportunity to see one of his idols in action, he failed to get an autograph. But he performed well under pressure and finished seventh with a throw of 52.26 meters -- beating his personal best throw by over a meter. Toth, an unattached athlete sponsored by Nike, won the shot put as expected with a mark of 20.30 meters, a full three meters ahead of the rest of the field. Penn thrower Brent Stiles also did well, as he threw 15.37 meters en route to an eighth-place finish. Stiles and Turley were not the only Quakers throwers to stand up to the great competition. Sophomore Seth Beaver and freshman Chris Crisman turned some heads as they placed sixth and 10th respectively, continuing the trend they started last week at the Quaker Invite. Although the throwing squad was able to overcome the blustery winds and scattered showers, the rest of the team did not fare as well. "You're supposed to go south and it's supposed to get warmer, but that wasn't how it was -- it was Philly weather," Penn senior high jumper Rich Carlson said. "I like outdoor track so much better but you don't have the consistent climate." Carlson failed to clear the opening height of 6'7" because he knocked the bar down after he had already cleared it, but he is hopeful for the future after noticing improvements in his jumps. He attributed his lack of success to bad weather and hard work-outs the previous week in practice. Penn senior Stan Anderson jumped for the first time since the outdoor season began and was rewarded with fifth place in the triple jump with a distance of 14.99 meters (49'2.25"). Anderson also fouled a jump that cleared 52 feet. Freshman Tuan Wreh jumped 14.71 meters and finished ninth. Wreh rounded out a group of seven Quakers that finished in the top 10 in five different field events. The running events were not as kind to the Red and Blue, as Penn was forced to withdraw from two relays. "We had to scratch the 4x4 and the 4x8 -- there weren't enough healthy people to run," Penn sophomore Darryl Olczak said. Olczak did compete in the 400 meters himself but he was not pleased with his results. "I didn't run my own race," Olczak said. "I got sucked into going out too fast -- I ran out of gas. This meet helped me realize how I have to run." The Penn coaching staff elected not to risk injuries so early in the season but rather to allow athletes to heal completely in preparation for the heart of the season, starting with this week's University of Pennsylvania Invitational. In addition to giving Penn the opportunity to compete with world-class athletes, the Relays showed the Quakers just how far they have to go.

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