W. Track faces Princeton, Penn State

Expectations are high as the Penn women's track team travels to Princeton this Saturday to compete in a tri-meet that includes Penn State and the Tigers. This marks the first time that the Quakers will compete in a dual against Princeton with an additional team, but Penn coach Betty Costanza still believes that the rivalry is alive and well. "In our mind, it's still a dual meet between Penn and Princeton," Costanza said. The overall sentiment among the Quakers is basically the same -- this is still primarily a Penn versus Princeton dual meet. The Quakers feel positive about their recent accomplishments, but are still looking to improve. "We had some great performances last week at Penn State and we just want to continue them," Costanza said. "I think that if everybody puts in their best performance, we should do well," Penn senior triple jumper Jen Thompson said. This is not the first time the Red and Blue have taken to the track against the Tigers this season. On December 9, Penn competed in the Princeton New Year's Invitational, where the Quakers took four first-place finishes and placed at least six more athletes in the top three in different events. Penn's JaJuan Gair and Bassey Adjah went one-two, respectively, in the 55-meter hurdles in that meet, and Petra Stewart and Adjah went one-three, respectively, in the 300 sprint. "They've seen us before the season," Penn freshman shotputter Tonia Sabino said. "They know what we can do and we know what they can do. We just have to go out there and prove ourselves again." While surmounting the Tigers and Nittany Lions is the primary objective for the weekend, the Quakers are also looking into the future as the ECAC and NCAA championships are looming in the not-too-distant future. ECACs will take place in Boston over the first weekend in March. The NCAA championships follow on the next weekend. "I don't think that we're necessarily competing specifically for one team," sophomore long/triple-jumper Meredith Bunche said. "We're competing for the general goal of improving towards the end of the season." But there is, of course, the added incentive of defeating one of Penn's biggest Ivy League foes. "I just hope we kick Princeton's ass," Penn freshman pole vaulter Caroline Rebello said.

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