Women's Track strong in winter opener

Not only does she have an interesting name, but Charity Payne can throw a shotput a long way as well.

The freshman paced the Penn women's track team to an encouraging start to the women's indoor track and field season, finishing first in the shotput with a mark of 43'5.25" at last weekend's Alden Invitational hosted by Brown University.

Payne led a Penn squad that produced 13 top-five finishes at the Rhode Island meet, as the Red and Blue kicked off the 2003 campaign under new coach Gwen Harris.

"My throws were very consistent," said Payne. "So I was very happy."

Others very happy with the day's events included sophomore Samantha Crook, who stole second place in the pole vault at the tourney. Junior Grace Maloney finished third in the high jump.

The tandem of sophomore Rachel Dailey and junior Susan Eisenberg ran third and fourth respectively in the 500-meter dash.

Junior Michelle Hart finished third in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.75 seconds.

Along with Payne's first-place finish in the shot put, junior Tonia Sabino finished fifth.

"I didn't really know what to expect," Dailey said. "But we've been practicing really hard and I think it has paid off."

Dailey sees improved conditioning and work ethic on this year's team and attributes it to Harris' leadership.

"We've been training since we got here, and I think we're a lot stronger this year," Dailey said.

While Payne is new to the team, she concurs that the Quakers' focused training regiment contributed to her victorious effort over the weekend, as her shot-put throw was a personal indoor record.

"My training really went a long way, and I felt like I was well-conditioned," she said.

The Alden Invitational serves as a primer for the indoor track and field season, which doesn't really kick into high gear until Jan. 18, when the team will trek to Army.

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