The track teams will look for another year of postseason success this weekend, as the Red travels to Philadelphia for the outdoor Heptagonal championships. The women's team has won the last four Heps titles, while the men have won the last three.
"Every season, everything we do is geared to trying to be as good as we can be - to be at our best for a championship," said women's head coach Lou Duesing.
Among its roster of talent, the women's team has seen strong results of late from junior Sarah Wilfred in the high jump. She won the event at the prestigious Sea Ray Relays with a school-record jump of 6-0 1/2 and took second place at the Penn Relays with a jump of 6-0.
"At the Sea Ray Relays and then at the Penn Relays, she competed very well against top-flight competition," Duesing said. "I think there's a maturity that she's gained. I think she's confident about her ability - her success has built confidence."
The Red will also be looking for a strong performance from junior Morgan Uceny, who competed at the indoor national championships in the 800-meter race. Additionally, senior Jamie Greubel will look to win her third conference title in the heptathlon, having won the event in 2003 and 2005. Greubel has had a strong outdoor season, setting personal bests in several events and managing a school record in the overall heptathlon at the UC-Irvine Classic in March. She also helped the sprint relay team to achieve a third place finish in the championship race of the Penn Relays.
Meanwhile, the men's team will look for continued strength from the jumpers, including junior Evan Whitehall, who won the college title at the Penn Relays with a vault of 16-6 3/4. Sophomores Muhammad Halim and Rayon Taylor will look to continue their NCAA regional qualifying marks in the triple jump and long jump.
The Red has also seen strong performances from the team's hurdlers, including senior Greg Simonds and sophomore Aaron Merrill, who both had NCAA regional qualifying times in the 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays. Sophomore Adam Seabrook also ran well at the Penn Relays, managing a time of 53.37 in the event.
Junior David Pell has also been a standout during the outdoor season, clearing the famed 7-0 in the high jump, while junior Brad Baird has progressively improved his NCAA regional qualifying times in the steeplechase, most recently managing a 8:57.13 at the Penn Relays. Junior Aaron Arlinghaus has also ran well in the steeplechase, earnng a NCAA regional qualifying time of 9:05.79 at the Penn Relays.
Both teams will take on familiar Ivy League competition at the meet, including dual 2005 Heps second-place finishers Dartmouth and Penn for the men's side, and 2005 second-place Columbia for the women's team. Last year, the men's team had a total of 136 points to win the event, while the Green and the Quakers both had 96 points. The women's team ran away with the title in 2005, recording 177 1/2 to Columbia next-best 110.
"They know its going to be a challenge," Duesing said of his team. "But they've always welcomed challenges throughout the year."
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Senior Editor