Track teams to use Penn Relays as tune-up for year-end meets

Traditionally, the Penn Relays, held this weekend in Philadelphia, is one of the most prestigious meets in the country. Athletes from across the country and around the globe come to compete not only for high school and collegiate glory, but also for positions on Olympic squads.

For the Princeton men's and women's track teams, however, this weekend is just one more step in a season-long process.

With the Heptagonal Championships and IC4As looming large on the horizon now for both teams, the Tigers will travel to Philadelphia with a different set of goals from many of their competitors.

"This is the biggest meet in the country and we're entered in almost every event," men's head coach Fred Samara said.

Princeton is no stranger to success at the Penn Relays, especially in the field events. Senior Scott Denbo will look to improve on his second-place finish in the shot put last year. He threw 18.24 meters at that meet, a mark that is close to his best this season.

Some members of the team are taking a more relaxed attitude toward the meet, chosing to save their intensity for the following weekend's championship.

"This is not the end all be all for us," junior Paul Morrison said. "It's really more fun than anything else. That said, we obviously want to run well."

The competition provides the Tigers with the rare opportunity to run not only against local rivals, but also against some of the teams they may face at the NCAA Championships. A strong showing at the Penn Relays would be a confidence boost going into the final meets of the year, even for a steady team like Princeton. A lackluster effort, however, might signal a letdown just before the Tigers' most important contests.

"We have such a great team, it can be easy to be overconfident," Morrison said.

Although scores are not kept on a team basis at the meet, a solid all-around performance is still a must for the Tigers this weekend.

"We've had a great year so far," Samara said, "but we still need to come together in a couple of areas, especially the sprints and hurdles."

Princeton sprinters have not shared in the limelight of their distance running teammates very often this season.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

While sophomore Cameron Atkinson won the 100 meter race last weekend with a time of 11.03, the sprinters have been largely overshadowed by impressive seasons from both the middle and long distance runners. The Tigers hope that this trend will change starting with this weekend.

"We expect to do very well as a team," Samara said. "On the other hand, we won't try to kill ourselves."

While the Princeton men's team will be dedicating a full squad to the Penn Relays, the women's team will split and travel to the Lions Invitational in Trenton, N.J., in addition to the contest in Philadelphia.

"We're splitting the squad so that way everyone gets a chance to prepare for Heps the following weekend [at Weaver Stadium]," women's head coach Peter Farrell said.

With a smaller team than the men traveling to the Relays, the women's goals are slightly more modest.

"It's great to compete in such a theatre," Farrell said. "We hope we can get some good performances."

"It's a really historic and exciting meet with the best runners from across the country," junior distance runner Catherine Casey said. "And it's a great opportunity for our team to run some fast times leading up to Heps."

Casey and fellow junior distance runner Lauren Simmons, as well as senior triple jump specialist Becky Haarlow, should figure to post strong performances in their last tuneup opportunity.

Overall, both teams look to test themselves against some of the best runners in the world, and in doing so prepare themselves for the upcoming championships.