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Penn junior Christy Green was one of three Quakers gymnasts to record a 9.9 in the floor exercise last week at the Ivy Classic. [Will Burhop/DP File Photo]

W. Lax to host No. 2 team in the nation tomorrow The Penn women's lacrosse team will welcome the nationally second ranked Duke Blue Devils to Franklin Field tomorrow for a non-league matchup. The two teams met last season in Durham, N.C., in the Quakers' last game of the season. At the time, the then-No. 9 Blue Devils handed Penn a 13-7 loss. The loss marked Penn's eighth of the season and dropped the Quakers below the .500 mark to 7-8 for the year. The 2003 season looks promising for the Quakers. The Red and Blue took care of Delaware, 12-3, in their season opener Wednesday. Four Penn players each netted two goals in the win. The senior duo of Whitney Horton and Kate Murray each contributed a pair, along with sophomore Katie Spofford and freshman Emily Cochran. After amassing a 4-2 halftime lead over the Blue Hens, the Quakers exploded in the second stanza to outscore Delaware 8-1 and easily pick up their first win of the season. Tomorrow's game will bring a much higher level of competition to the turf at Franklin Field. The Blue Devils travel to Philadelphia after suffering their first loss of the season -- a 9-8 overtime defeat at the hands of the No. 4 Maryland Terrapins. Before the loss to Maryland yesterday, the Blue Devils were a perfect 3-0 on the season. Duke had reeled off wins against Virginia Tech, 16-2, UMBC, 18-4, and Johns Hopkins, 11-8. -- Greg Muller M. Track individuals heading to Boston Selected members of the Penn men's track team head north to Boston this weekend for the IC4A Championships, an event that the Quakers are looking at mainly on an event-by-event basis. Throughout the indoor season, the Red and Blue scored 21 qualifying times in individual events and will also be running two relays. Four Penn runners with qualifying times are captains Brian Abram and Sam Burley and juniors Chris Edmonds and Matt Wedge. These four also earned All-Ivy League honors at the Indoor Heptagonals at Dartmouth last weekend. However, not all who ran qualifying times will be running in their events this weekend. Burley will sit out his 800-meter race this weekend to rest up for the NCAA Championships in Arkansas next weekend. Sophomore Dusty Lieb qualified for the IC4A and NCAA meets in the 5,000m run but is questionable these upcoming weekends due to illness. Abram, who qualified in five individual events, will not be running the 200-meter dash. Also being featured this weekend are sophomores Stephen Hayes, Neal Wojdowski, Joe Plevelich and Scott Sebens. Freshmen Robert Budesa and Mark Materna will take part in the 4x800m relay. Penn coach Charlie Powell's aspirations for this meet include setting the new school indoor record in the 4x400m relay. -- Andrew Goodman W. Fencing looking for All-Americans It's time for some glory. After a decent showing at last weekend's Intercollegiate Fencing Association championships, Penn is ready for a breakout performance at the Mid-Atlantic and South Regionals at Penn State this weekend. The Red and Blue will send 11 of its strongest performers from the regular season to the event, including freshman epee Livia Ruarz-Huygens, who placed fifth last weekend, and senior sabre Christina Verigan who was just named first-team All-Ivy. Verigan finished eighth in the sabre at the IFAs. The competition will be formulated in numerous round-robin pools of six. The winner of each of the round-robin pools will move on until only one of the 36 competitors is left. Penn has a tradition of sending numerous fencers to the national finals. Although the season's results left Penn at a somewhat disappointing 2-3 in the Ivy League, high honors in this weekend's performance could be a sweet end to the season. "I want to see how many All-Americans we get," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "If it doesn't come out like that, it's a disappointment." -- David Perkel Gymnastics heading to Md. to face national powers Like most Penn students, the Penn gymnastics squad will head south this spring break.

But instead of going to Cancun or Acapulco, tomorrow No. 61 Penn will venture to College Park, Md., to take on the No. 43 Maryland Terrapins as well as the No. 46 George Washington Colonials. Penn has been red-hot lately, scoring its highest two team scores in program history, 192.4 and 192.0, in its last two meets. The Quakers will have to continue to score in the low 190s just to compete with these two squads. Maryland averages a 192.629 in competition this year, with a season high of 195.825. The Terps find themselves currently ranked seventh in the Southeast Region, just behind Towson, a team that easily defeated the Quakers 194.075-186.35 Jan. 17. The Colonials are ranked eighth in the Southeast Region, just behind Maryland. George Washington averages 192.522 points per meet and has a season-high of 195.175. Penn is currently ranked ninth in the Northeast Region and fourth in the East Coast Athletic Conference. The Quakers have averaged a 188.429 this season, with their season-high 192.4 coming against Cornell and Ursinus Feb. 22. For the Quakers to do well in Maryland this weekend, they will need to continue their success in their floor routines. Last Sunday at the Ivy Classic, three Penn gymnasts -- Christy Green, Desirae Gaspero and Laura Duros -- each scored 9.9s on the floor. Penn set a floor team record with an overall 49.3. But the bars squad will have to step up this weekend if the Quakers hope to win. Last weekend, Penn struggled on that apparatus, costing the team the Ivy crown. The Quakers will need to try to replicate their program record 48.775 on bars, which they set against Cornell two weeks ago. -- David Burrick

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