Track Takes Off for Penn

As the track and field season comes down to the finish, the Lions head to Philadelphia today for one of the season's biggest meets, the Penn Relays. They will be thrown into a high-pressure situation as they face the nation's top programs in front of a large audience.

The team, however, isn't daunted by the pressure. "It's a great meet and a great experience," said senior Kent Collins. "It's something you'll remember for a while."

The relays, which have been in progress since April 24, begin today for Columbia runners at 10 a.m. with the college women's 400-meter hurdle event and end on April 27 with the men's 4x800-meter relay.

"Everybody's really excited about it," senior Erison Hurtault said. "It's always good to see what other schools do when they put together their best teams."

Although the Lions will face the nation's top programs in the likes of Stanford, Florida State, and Tennessee-as well as perennial Ivy League powerhouses Penn and Cornell-the relays have never been dominated by any one program. The window is always open for a team to claim an upset victory.

No one running in the relays will run more than one event in order to avoid fatigue, as the Ivy League Heptagonals are on May 5. But the team is still using the relays as preparation for next weekend's Heps.

"It's good to get a real fast race in before Heps," said freshman Serita Lachesis, who will run in the 4x800-meter relay. "It's good for confidence."

And while the meet's venue could be a distraction for some runners, with 425 races over 33 hours of competition, this only strengthens the team in the lead up to Heps.

"The relays are so competitive-it's a good way to prepare because you really got to stick it out, just like you do next weekend at Heps," Collins said.

The men's side will field two relay teams-the 4x800-meter and the distance medley relay. The Light Blue finished sixth in the 4x800 at last year's relays, ahead of Ivy League rival Cornell, and the coaches have put together a tough lineup in order to best last year's performance. Hurtault will run the 4x800 along with freshman Mike Mark and juniors Jonah Rathbun and Liam Boylan-Pett. Pett is coming off a win in that event at the Long Beach State Invitational on April 15.

By running the 800, Hurtault will get a chance to build up his stamina in a distance event, as his dominance in the 400-meter is virtually secure.

Collins is joined in the distance medley relay by junior Zach Richard, senior Gabe Johnston, and freshman Corey Benton. The Columbia men will also be represented in field events at the relays, with senior Jeff Oke competing in the shot put and sophomore Jeff Randall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The men had hoped to run a 4x100-meter relay team at the relays and at Heps on May 5, but with freshman Stefan Vutescu's injury at the Auburn Invitational, they will not be able to field a team for the relays. Whether or not they will be able to run it at Heps also remains uncertain.

On the women's side, Columbia will field a formidable lineup of women's hurdlers, as juniors Whitney Crayton and Osamuede Iyoha and senior Katy Schlichtman, who put up impressive times at the Auburn Invitational on April 21, now hold the top three times for the 400 hurdles in the Ivy League. They will be joined by senior Ashley Williams.

The women will also run 4x800-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams.