Two early mishaps may have contributed to the women's track team's loss on the scoreboard, but they could not overshadow several impressive early-season individual performances.
Penn stole last week's dual meet at Weaver Track and Field Stadium from Princeton, 89-61, due in part to a pulled hamstring and a flub by the 4x100 meter relay team.
Freshman long jumper Hassina Outtz reaggrivated an old hamstring injury and the 4x100 team was disqualified in back-to-back events early in the meet.
"We had a couple of mishaps," head coach Peter Farrell said. "It's no way to start a meet."
Unphased by these miscues, several familiar faces posted strong races — and some new faces emerged in the supporting cast.
Junior Catherine Casey continued the success that has marked her recent outdoor races, winning the 1500 meters in 4 minutes 42.09 seconds. While Casey's excellence in the 1500 has become somewhat routine this season, another Tiger, freshman Kate Reid, may have just had her breakout race. Reid finished second behind Casey with a time of 4:43.41.
"Kate beat her old personal best by 20-odd seconds," Farrell said. "That was pretty cool."
Casey and Reid were not the only Princeton duo to finish first and second in their event. Freshmen classmates Liz Morse and Kellie Cramm matched the feat in the 400 meter race with times of 58.19 and 58.45, respectively.
Also claiming top spots for Princeton were junior Lauren Simmons in the 800 meters with a time of 2:10.97 and senior Khalia Thomas in the shot put. Thomas won with a throw of 42 feet, .75 inches — almost 18 inches father than her closest competitor. Thomas also competed in the hammer throw, taking fourth with a throw of 35.76 meters.
Junior Becky Haarlow also continued her spring streak of solid showings, winning the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 3.025 inches.
"Running that kind of time and throwing 42 feet in the shot put is just superb," Farrell said.
Senior Becca Desman was another Tiger at the top of the medal stand, winning the high jump with a height of 1.64 meters.
The news from the Princeton relays was not all as bad as that from the 4x100 squad. The Tigers on the 4x400 lineup bested their rivals from Penn by six seconds with a time of 3:50.25.
"That's a very good time for this time of year for us," Farrell said.
Despite the individual success stories, the meet was something of a disappointment for the team as a whole.
"We don't like to lose to Penn," Farrell said. "We had some very good performances, but they came in force this time. They had a little too much firepower for us."
Ultimately, the Tigers hope to eliminate the missteps that hurt them against Penn in order to meet their high expectations for the season.
"Our real goal for the season is to build towards a big, competitive performance at Heps," Farrell said.
Princeton will look to continue the building process in its next competition, a tri meet against Army and Columbia in New York City on April 21.
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