M. Track on top at home

The Penn men's track team won the U. of P. Invitational largely due to its performance in the field events Things are finally starting to come together for the Quakers, as they finished first out of eight teams at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational with a total score of 176 points. The University of Massachusetts scored 145 points on the way to a second-place finish, ahead of Cornell with 128 and Fairleigh Dickinson with 77. "We needed the meet in order to build some confidence," Penn freshman Tuan Wreh said. "It was kind of a wake-up call." Traditionally, Penn has won with its short sprints and strong distance core but this year the Quakers have found different ways. Saturday was no different as the Quakers accumulated most of their points in the field events. In the hammer throw, junior Matt Pagliasotti placed second with a throw of 176'6" and sophomore Kyle Turley finished right behind him with a throw of 169'7". The dynamic duo also competed in the discus, where Pagliasotti came in second with 154'8" and Turley finished 11th. Junior Brent Stiles threw the shot put 48'4" to win the event, contributing 10 points to the team. Rounding out the throwing events, sophomore Seth Beaver and freshman Chris Crisman took fourth and fifth place respectively in the javelin with throws of 196'5" and 190'3". They combined to score nine points for the team but felt they did not throw to potential. Both Beaver and Crisman passed the 200-foot threshold earlier in the season. "Well I didn't do as well as I wanted to do, but it was OK," Beaver said, adding that Crisman, his teammate, "threw really well." As usual, Penn senior Stan Anderson paced the team with victories in both the high jump and the triple jump. He edged Wreh in the triple jump with a distance of 51'1", overshadowing Wreh's jump of 50'1.75". It was the first time that Wreh jumped over 50 feet in his career. "I was happy," Wreh said. "It is always good to break a little barrier, but I want to stay hungry and focus for the rest of the season." Anderson led the Quakers' 1-2-3 finish in the high jump after clearing 6'7", the same height that senior Rich Carlson achieved in second place. Wreh, a freshman, contributed in this event as well, clearing 6'5" and placing third. In the pole vault, the Quakers combined to outscore the opposition 21-18. Sophomore Aaron Prokopec led the team, clearing 15'11" and placing second. Luke Stokes finished third, Bob Reynolds finished fifth and John Church finished sixth. In his outdoor season debut, Penn sophomore Mike Aguilar answered all questions about his health by finishing in front of everyone in the 400-meter hurdles in 53.1 seconds. The meet also marked his return to the 4x400-meter relay team, which finished fifth in 3:15.5. The relay team expects to improve when injured freshman Steve Faulk returns to join sophomore Darryl Olczak, senior Terrance Whitehead and Aguilar. "Well, I felt that it's what I wanted to do," Aguilar said. "After a pretty disappointing indoor season, it was good to run my first race and win." Olczak took fifth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.30 seconds, and Penn sprinter Shawn Fernandes tied for fourth in the 100-meter dash, completing the race in 10.7 seconds. With Penn juniors Scott Clayton and Sean MacMillan recovering from injuries, the younger members of the distance team had to fill a major void. Sophomore Andrew Girardin finished third in the 800-meter run in 1:53.6, leading the distance team by scoring six points. Several freshmen, including Mike Lorelli, showed promise by competing well and turning in personal best times. "I guess I was pretty happy -- it was a PR -- but I'd really like to go under four minutes, that would be a much more competitive time," Lorelli said. Next week, Penn hosts Princeton in a dual meet. The Quakers could welcome back some of the injured stars and judge where they are in relation to other Ivy League teams. "Next week will be a better judge -- Princeton has a lot of talent and a really good distance program -- that will be a better gauge for where we are," Lorelli said.

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