Men's track and field to compete in tri-meet at Penn St.

The men's track and field team heads to a snowed-under Penn State track this weekend to compete in a quad meet against Penn, Penn St. and Villanova.

While in past years each race was a chance to race the clock in the hopes of recording a national qualifying time, this year, the emphasis has changed to head-to-head competition. This weekend the team will unwittingly get to practice competing in less-than-optimal conditions.

Penn is the defending outdoor heptagonal champion, besting Princeton last May in a heated battle that came down to the final 4x400-meter relay.

"In terms of competition, we would always like to compete well against another team in the Heps [Heptagonal Championships]," senior captain Cameron Atkinson said. "And the opportunity to match ourselves up against Penn, the defending outdoor Heps champion, is a great way to see where we are as a team as we build toward the Heps at Yale.

"That all being said, the most important things for this meet are competing well and coming out healthy."

While team-scoring significance is diminished against non-league competitors Penn State and Villanova, both schools have nationally renowned athletes that should provide a competitive challenge for the Tigers. This is especially true in the middle distance events. Villanova boasts sub-four minute miler Ryan Hayden and a host of other NCAA qualifiers.

An unknown variable is whether Wildcat coach Marcus O'Sullivan will race his top seeds, as he has a reputation for focusing on training and racing his charges sparsely.

Key event

Penn State is led by Canadian import Matt Lincoln, who narrowly beat Princeton junior Jon Kieleszak at their last meeting. The most notable entrant in the middle distances, however, is Penn senior Sam Burley who has established himself among the nation's elite with an outdoor NCAA runner-up finish last June, followed by a bronze medal in the 800m at this year's NCAA indoor championships.

"In spite of the inclement weather, Team MD [middle distance] will be attempting to run regional qualifying times this weekend," sophomore 800m runner Alexis Tingan said. "After many months of base training, Team MD is beginning to pile on the speed training in preparation of peaking in time for Heps and NCAA regionals. Team MD has responded well to this training with solid performances in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m this past weekend. We will be looking to put all of this together this weekend to run some fast times."

While at the indoor Heptagonal championships the scoring was heavily weighted towards the middle distance events — what with the bizarre inclusion of the 500m and 1000m run, as well as assorted middle distance relays — outdoors, a heavier burden falls on the sprinters. The 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 4x100m, and 4x400m will all take place.

"The sprinters as a group are training hard in anticipation for the Heps," Atkinson said. "With the event pendulum swinging back toward the sprints, we have a lot of spots to fill for sprinters on that Heps team. Thankfully we are on track to be ready to compete when Heps rolls around."

Three weeks away from a chance at Heptagonal redemption, the Tigers look to use this meet as a stepping stone for more competitive performances.

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"I feel that the team has bounced back well from a stunning indoor Heps defeat" Tingan said. "We are determined to work harder and smarter to win the outdoor Heps title."