On Saturday, Cornell is going to be fired up as it faces one of its biggest rivals, the Penn men's track team.
Annually a decided underdog, the Big Red looks at the meet against Penn as a chance to take down one of the Ivy League's top teams.
"It will be a good meet because they always get really excited for us," Penn junior Sam Burley, a middle distance runner, said. "We are a big rivalry for Cornell."
Penn, however, will not head into the meet without any additional motivation of its own.
The Big Red surprised everyone last year when they badly upset the Quakers during one of the regular indoor meets.
In the end, Penn hammered Cornell when it mattered, in the Heptagonal Championships, where the Red and Blue placed first in the outdoor competition and second in the indoor events.
Even so, Cornell is more confident this season after hurdling itself into the USTCA National Power Rankings last year.
Last season they had five NCAA qualifiers, and they ranked third in Heps, earning the highest point total they have achieved in twenty years.
Recent results do bring the Big Red dangerously close to Penn, especially in the 4x400m relay.
Last weekend, the Big Red team finished the 4x400 relay in a time of 3.23.30 at the U.S. Coaches' Series Meet. The same weekend, while competing against the Naval Academy, Penn finished first in this event with a time of 3.21.88.
Despite the narrow one and a half second difference separating the two teams' finishing times, the Quakers are ready to dismiss any thoughts of parity with the Big Red.
"A lot of our guys were really banged up," Penn junior tri-captain Brian Abram said. "Even though we won, we didn't run as well as we had hoped."
Hopefully, for the Quakers, they will be able to compete to their full potential this weekend and in all of the upcoming crucial meets.
After the meet with Cornell, in three weeks the Red and Blue will go head-to-head with an array of formidable opponents at the Penn State Invitational.
Then only two weeks later, the the 2002 Heptagonal Championships will take place on the weekend of Feb. 23 and 24.
Once again, Penn has the making for another championship team. The Quakers retained all of last year's Heptagonal Championship team -- including three NCAA qualifiers, 15 IC4A qualifiers and six individual Heps champion -- and also added a cadre of some of the most promising freshmen runners on the East Coast.
"You would never believe they were only freshmen," Abram said. "They have really stepped up and shown they can compete, especially in the past few meets."
Penn will need continued contributions from its freshmen if it is to further its success in the forthcoming meets.
With the upset-minded Cornell awaiting Penn's arrival in Ithaca this weekend, the freshmen are certain to run up against a significant challenge.
But Penn coach Charlie Powell is quick to caution anyone from discounting the formidability of the Penn lineup -- the freshmen, in specific.
"You don't mess with success," he said.
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