Smaller M. Track 'army' heads to IC4As

The Penn men's track team is hoping to perform better at IC4As this weekend than it did at the Heptagonals Championships two weeks ago. The Quakers certainly hope they don't do worse -- they only finished ahead of Cornell and Yale. The Quakers will be represented by 15 athletes that qualified in their events throughout the indoor season. Penn has typically sent more competitors to the meet in past years, but the team realizes that it does not have the talent that it had last year when it finished second at IC4As. "It's not the army that we used to bring," Penn senior captain Dan Nord said. Nord injured his knee early in the season during a routine practice, but an amazing recovery allowed him to not only return to competition during the indoor season but to also qualify for ICs in the long jump. Nord got his qualifying jump two weeks ago at Heptagonals when he placed third, two positions behind his brother, Jeff. "I want to win," Nord said. "I will not be happy with anything less than victory. It was great to know that I could still jump that far, despite losing. It was exciting to see I could still compete at that level." This will be Nords' last collegiate indoor meet. As each meet comes and goes, he realizes that he's closer to his final meet, but he will not necessarily miss competing under the confines of a roof. "I won't be too sad to see it go," he said. "I'm from California -- I'm used to outdoor [track]." Also jumping in this meet is Penn freshman Tuan Wreh in the triple jump. He will be the only freshman from Penn competing in an individual event at ICs. "I'm definitely excited," Wreh said. "I'm not just happy to go there? I really want to do well. I didn't excel as well as I wanted to at Heps. I think I can compete with anyone in the East Coast when I'm jumping well." Wreh will have his work cut out for him. Along with the excellent caliber of athletes from all over the east coast, Wreh will be competing with Penn senior Stan Anderson, who he has not beaten this year. Anderson placed first in the triple jump at Heps and he will have an excellent chance of doing so again this weekend, although he would rather just concentrate on doing his best. "I don't really want to think [about winning]," Anderson said. "I want to go out there and treat it just like any other big meet. If I go in there thinking I'm going to win, chances are, I won't." Other Penn competitors include pole vaulters Aaron Prokopec and Luke Stokes, 400-meter runner Mike Aguilar and Sean MacMillan in the mile. Weight throwers Matt Pagliasotti and Kyle Turley will be there, as will the members of the 4x400-meter relay team and the distance relay team. Prokopec did not qualify until the Heptagonals meet and Stokes needed an extra meet last weekend to qualify. The Quakers sent a select group of athletes that were on the verge of qualifying to an additional meet last weekend. Turley and Pagliasotti will both be looking to improve their throws and place well, but they have a personal competition as well. Pagliasotti waited quietly during the season while Turley threw farther and gained better finishes and more notoriety. Then at Heps, Pagliasotti surprised everyone with a first-place finish and a personal best throw. "I've beaten him all year and then at Heps, he whipped it out," Turley said. "I want to teach him a lesson this weekend." Unlike Heps, the athletes are concentrating on individual efforts instead of trying to place as a team. "All season it's about the team," Wreh said. "Right now is the time for me to focus on my event [but] if I do well personally, that's going to help the team out."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.