Tigers host Larry Ellis Invitational

The spikes are in, the shoes are laced and the times are there. In a tuneup before one of the nation's most prestigious and competitive meets of the year, the Penn Relays, the men's and women's track teams posted some impressive marks at the Larry Ellis Invitational.

Both teams claimed top honors in certain events. The women's team came up big in the middle distance events while the men's team dominated in the sprints and field events.

Princeton's fierce quartet, comprised of senior Ray Lenihan, junior Brian Shields, senior Derek Davis and sophomore Bill Foran, took the 4x100m relay in scintillating fashion Saturday. The four sprinters posted a time of 42.09 seconds, just 0.03 seconds ahead of Penn's team. It wasn't as good of a showing time-wise as their race at the Princeton Quad meet, where they ran a 41.68 second time, but it's only the results that matter, and those the sprinters delivered: last week, Penn edged the Tigers out by around half a second. This time around, though, it was Princeton that broke the tape first, which should boost its confidence heading into Heptagonals.

The Tigers were more like Tiggers on Saturday as well, as Davis and sophomore Alex Willis both took first place honors in the long jump and high jump, respectively.

"The field event guys did pretty well across the board from throws to jumps," junior Tom Brennan said.

Foran had a share of the spotlight as well, with his 10.50 second time in the 100m dash good for second overall.

"The weather certainly wasn't great for the sprinters but Bill managed to drop a very solid 100 time," Brennan said.

The distance runners turned in a good performance Friday night as well.

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Sophomore James O'Toole and freshman Michael Maag were separated by only 0.18 seconds in the 1500m run, as O'Toole ran the race in three minutes, 49.39 seconds while Maag finished in 3:49.57.

The women's team was not to be one-upped, however, as it took its share of golds in a different discipline of track running: the middle distance events.

Senior Suzanne Andrews ran a blazing time of 2:20.60 in the 800m run, more than enough for a first place finish — the closest runner behind her was Shanice Depasse of Temple, who finished in 2:22.30.

Andrews teammate senior Lindsay Cole also got in on the fun, as she took the 1500m run in a blazing time of 4:48.67. Cole also demolished the competition, as the runner closest to her finished ages later — almost a 10-second difference separated the two.

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Princeton also managed a sweep in the hammer throw — senior Laura Okpala, sophomore Emma Harper and senior Kelly Ochoa took first, second and third respectively.

No one could match Okpala, however, as she ran away with the event with a throw of 42.27 meters — more than 140 feet. Harper and Ochoa weren't far behind, with throws of 42.37 meters and 41.37 meters correspondingly. The Tigers completely outpaced the competition; after Ochoa's throw, the distances dropped off drastically. The fourth finisher's throw was only 35.46 meters in comparison.

Both the men's and the women's teams have proven their potential to outmuscle the competition for top places, whether it be by narrow 0.03 second margins or by vast 10 meter gaps. The Tigers will run again this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Penn Relays, in Philadelphia, Pa.