Villanova hosts men's track; women welcome Yale, Penn

After several individual successes at last week's Sam Howell Memorial Invitational, the men's and women's outdoor track and field teams are entering this weekend's meets with enthusiasm and confidence.

"The team objective for the meet this weekend is to win. Plain and simple," senior sprinter Hasina Outtz said.

The men will be traveling to Villanova to take on Penn, Penn St. and Villanova while the women will stay at home to defend the track against the Quakers and Elis.

"We should be out there ready to show Penn and Yale what they are going to have to deal with at the Ivy League Heptagonals," Outtz said.

Outtz and the rest of the women's team have a reason to be confident after their auspicious home opener this past weekend. The invitational was full of promising individual performances.

Outtz won her event, the 400-meter hurdles, by over four seconds. Freshman Caroline and Catha Mullen won the 1,500m and 3,000m events, respectively. Senior Liz Morse took the 800m with a time of two minutes, 14.52 seconds.

Although many early-season meets are commonly used as tuneups for the marquee events at the end of the season, the team has no plans of taking this weekend's events lightly.

"Competing against other Ivies is always an important meet," Outtz said, "even if it is early in the season."

Although the Tigers defeated both teams at the indoor Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in the winter, both the Elis and Quakers feature several strong individual athletes. The meet will serve as an early-season check point for the team to compare itself to other Ivy League competition.

"I feel that the season has been amazing thus far," Morse said. "So many of us are healthy and excited about competing this spring."

The Tigers have plenty of confidence and motivation to carry them through these early season competitions.

The women plan to keep momentum rolling on Saturday at Weaver Track.

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"Getting second at [indoor] Heps has given our team the confidence it needed going into the outdoor season" Morse said.

Men travel to Villanova

The men have adopted the same no-nonsense attitude for their weekend trip to Villanova.

"We're approaching the time of the season when the meets get more significant by the week," senior hammer thrower Mark Smith said. "Right now, this is our most important meet."

The Tigers will face two strong teams in Penn, one of the top Ivy League teams, and Penn St., which comes from a strong track division.

Smith helped launch Princeton to success in last weekend's home opener by taking second in the hammer throw. Smith's performance was accompanied by that of one of his field teammates, senior javelin thrower Tim Releford, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with his meet-best throw of 67.54m last weekend.

The Tigers also achieved several impressive results on the track. Senior Dan Mackenzie finished third in the 10,000m run. Junior Dwaine Banton took second in the 200m dash with a time of 21.85.

Early-season meets are particularly important for the team because they can often act as a barometer for individual early-season performance.

"These meets are always important as they serve as check points," Banton said. "They help athletes and coaches assess the success of the training programs and determine what adjustments, if any, should be made for the future."

But that does not mean that Banton and the rest of the team are taking this weekend's meet any less seriously.

"The team's objective for this weekend is the same as usual," Banton continued, "to go out and execute according to our training and get good times and good marks."