As the Quakers prepare for their season's stretch run, the Relays wil provide a unique chance to shine. The Penn women's track team will try to do more than just be a good host this weekend when the Quakers compete against some of the best runners in the world at the Penn Relays. For the Red and Blue, the Penn Relays have taken on an added importance because it is Penn's final chance to warm up for the all-important Heptagonal Championships. "The hope is that we can kind of get the ball rolling here and get some momentum," Penn assistant coach Crickett Batz-Shaklee said. "This is our last chance to get ready for Heps, so it is really important that we compete hard and that we do it with a lot of pride." The Quakers are coming off a meet at home against Cornell and Birmingham (U.K.) in which they took second place with a team score of 124. The Big Red won the event with a cumulative score of 155.5. Although Penn's hopes of taking first were not realized, the Quakers had to be pleased with some strong individual performances in the home meet. Sophomore Liz Wittels easily won the pole vault with a clearance of 3.35 meters, and freshman Julie Siebert-Johnson took home the crown in the javelin with a distance of 42.38. The long jumpers for Penn had a fantastic meet over the weekend, with junior Bassey Adjah winning the event with a leap of 5.34 meters. Junior Melissa MacIntyre was close on Adjah's heels with a jump of 5.32, good enough for second place. Freshman Meredith Bunche finished in fourth place with a distance of 5.13. The 4x400 relay team of Qianna Snooks, Adjah, Jeraldine Cofie and Petra Stewart continued their magnificent running of late and easily won the meet with a time of 3:49.5. The relay team for Cornell posed few problems, finishing five seconds back. "We're really excited to see how our relay teams fare against some great competition," Batz-Shaklee said. "We've gotten really used to running relays against only Ivy League teams, so it will be interesting going against some fantastic runners." Although the Red and Blue do have talented relay squads, Penn is not an excellent distance-running team, and consequently, the Quakers will not have athletes competing in numerous events. "We do have a lot of empty slots," Batz-Shaklee said. "This is a runner's meet, and we're just not a very hardcore distance-running team right now. But we're really excited about the Relays. And we have two outstanding pole vaulters." After the Penn Relays, Penn will have a sizeable break of two weeks to rest and to make final preparations for Heps. The Quakers will welcome the downtime, having had meets each of the last six weekends. The break could also help the team recover from some nagging injuries. Junior Jujuan Gair is scheduled to compete this weekend in the 100 hurdles, but may have to be scratched due to a back strain. For the Penn athletes, the key will be focusing on their events and not getting caught up in the excitement of such a huge event in the world of track and field. "Obviously, competing in this meet and wearing the Penn uniform is big for us," Batz-Shaklee said. "We kind of have the attitude that this is our house, and even though championships aren't for another two weeks, this could be a great precursor to Heps for us."
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