M. Track aims for Heps gold

Baseball has the World Series, football has the Super Bowl and Ivy League track and field has the Heptagonal Championships.

This weekend the Penn men's track team will trek to Ithaca, N.Y., in order to go head-to-head against its fellow formidable Ivy opponents, and Navy. Despite the daunting competition, the Quakers are as confident as ever.

"We are all really positive," Penn junior Brendan Callahan said. "We have been performing really well the past few weeks, and as a team, we are definitely on the upswing."

Both as a team and individually, the Quakers believe they have gone the distance this season. A number of Penn's all-time top-10 records were shattered this year, not to mention that junior Sam Burley holds one of the top-10 times in the nation for the 800 meters.

"For the upperclassmen, it seems as if the extra year under their belt has really made the difference," Penn tri-captain Brian Abram said.

Callahan, who will compete in the shot put event at Heps, was most excited about the contributions of Penn's stellar rookie class.

"They have performed beyond our expectations," he said.

Callahan also lauded Penn's team improvement over last season.

"We have a higher maturity level this year and we have been working hard, and all of this has really been paying off."

It has undoubtedly been a solid season for the Quakers, but a challenging field of competition -- headlined by Princeton, Cornell and Navy -- awaits them this weekend.

Last season, the Tigers took the gold, holding off the surprising Quakers, who took second. Coach Charlie Powell predicted a middle of the pack finish for his team.

The Quakers returned to win at Outdoor Heps in the spring.

"Princeton has retained most of their championship competitors, and they are running really well this year," Abram said.

At the same time, Cornell and Navy have risen up towards the top this season and will also pose a tough challenge for the Red and Blue.

While Penn narrowly edged the Midshipmen, 73-71, the Quakers fell short to the Big Red at their home Invitational.

Powell's strategy is to simply remind them that anything can happen and to try to keep them as calm as possible.

"We are all really excited," Callahan said. "So the coach just tries to keep us in line so we don't go nuts. You could call him the 'regulator.'"

With the regulator keeping the troops in check, Penn is hoping for a fine finish to cap off an impressive season.

"It's going to be really close this year," Abram said. " But we're not going to cower in front of the big teams."

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