Ailing Quakers set for Army

Known for its unparalleled work ethic, a battle-tested Army swimming team will head to Philadelphia this weekend to face the Quakers.

"It should be a pretty competitive meet," Penn coach Mike Schnur said. "They train very hard."

In last year's meeting between the two teams, the Quakers outscored Army, 150-87, but according to Schnur, the meet was closer than the score indicates.

"We won the meet by score," he said, "but the races were close."

Despite falling short in the head-to-head competition, the Cadets placed just ahead of the Red and Blue last season in the Eastern Championships, strengthening the rivalry between the two teams.

Having been plagued by a rash of recent injuries, the Quakers are looking to the depth of their team to provide them with a lift this weekend.

In addition to the loss of sophomores Lowell Lamb and Adam Smith, senior Dave Hausladen is out for the season with a broken finger.

The gaps in the roster will also give the less experienced swimmers an opportunity to compete.

"A lot of guys will have a chance to step up," junior Nate Pinney said.

Schnur still believes that the Quakers will have the edge over Army this weekend.

"Our advantage should be our distance freestylers," he said. "They're faster than Army."

Penn's distance freestyle group is led by sophomores Shaun Lehrer and Todd Hutchinson and a group of very talented freshmen including Brian Funk, Eddie Anderton and Chris Perez.

"They really have a chance to lead the team," Schnur said.

Penn's greatest challenge will be overcoming the Cadets skilled cadre of breaststrokers -- including Dan Downs and Mychajlo Eliaszewskyj.

"It should be a great race with [Penn swimmers] Chris Miller and Carl Ericson," Schnur said.

The meet marks the first competition since Penn's training trip in Florida over the winter break.

"It should be tough," sophomore Matt Hand said. "We will just have to see which team wants it more."

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