M. Track comes back home to host the U of P Invitational

The Penn men's track team is hoping for a ray of light -- from the sun, that is. After competing in conditions that resemble the rainy season in Bangladesh for two straight weekends, the Quakers are hoping for some decent track weather. The Penn men's track team will host the University of Pennsylvania Invitational on Saturday. According to weather reports, it should be in the mid-60s and hazy with a good chance of rain. Penn coach Charles Powell is hoping for good weather and says that he will expect "good performances" if he gets his meteorological wish. This meet will feature a more competitive field than the Quaker Invitational that took place two weeks ago at Franklin Field. "The Quaker Invitational is just a way to get the year started, so [the U of P Invite] is much more competitive," Powell said. Powell expects Cornell, UMass, St. Joe's, La Salle and other local teams to join Penn at Franklin Field tomorrow. The Quakers distance team is hoping to continue its recent trend of steadily improving times. The team is starting to come together as a whole now that athletes like sophomore Andrew Girardin have recovered from injury. "Last weekend at North Carolina we did real well, and I'm expecting to continue that," Girardin said. If all goes according to plan and the weather cooperates, practice should pay off for the team in terms of lower times and higher places. "We're moving people around in some events, so I just want some good solid performances -- maybe some personal bests or seasonal bests," Powell said. "The thing is to make sure that your training keeps going well and it keeps taking steps forward to where you want to be at the end of the season." Girardin would like to achieve a personal record this weekend, because he feels that he can win the 800 meter run if he runs faster than he has before. To do this, he will most likely have to beat his friend Greg Cipolaro from Cornell, the reigning champion of the 800. "There will be a lot of fast people there, so I want to win the race," Girardin said. "The indoor Heps champion in the 800 is from Cornell." After solid performances in the field events at the Raleigh Relays last weekend that resulted in numerous top 10 finishes, Penn's athletes would just like to continue to improve. "We want to keep on going like we've been going and keep on doing what we've been doing," Penn thrower Kyle Turley said. Many of the Quakers that haven't already done so would like to qualify for IC4As with solid performances this weekend. Penn senior triple jumper Stan Anderson has already reached the qualifying mark for ICs. He would, however, like to beat his previous best mark for the season by about a foot and a half to qualify for the NCAA meet; last week he barely missed provisional qualification. "That foul that I had last week probably would've put me on the list [for nationals]," Anderson said. The sprinters hope to match the improvements made by the distance runners and by the field events. After breaking out with a 49.66 second third-place finish in the 400 meter dash two weeks ago at the Quaker Invite, Penn sophomore Darryl Olczak will try to replicate his outstanding home performance. Last week, the Quakers did not compete in the 4x400 meter relay due to a lack of healthy athletes. The members of the relay team may finally get the chance to get back on track tomorrow and continue to lower the time that they achieved before the Heps meet. If all goes according to plan, the weather will stay dry, and the athletes will take care of the rest on Saturday. "As long as it's dry it's all that matters," Anderson said.

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