Returning stars look to get trackwomen off on right foot

The Penn State women's track team is loaded and ready to make a run at the Big Ten championship this year.

There is plenty of reason to be excited about this year's team. For one, it returns 38 athletes from last year's fifth-place squad.

The most notable returner is senior Erica Bosler, an All-American in 1996 in the distance medley relay. Bosler also holds Penn State's record in the 600-meter (1:33.93).

Bosler and the rest of the team will travel to New Brunswick, N.J., to take on Rutgers, Cornell and Georgetown beginning tomorrow and continuing throughout the weekend.

Last year, the Lady Lions came home with a victory at Rutgers and they hope to repeat their success, but they also want to find out where they are right now.

"This meet never gets us too stressed out," Bosler said. "It is more of a learning experience for us. We get to see what we still need to work on."

This year, Bosler will not only be running in the distance medley relay, but also the 800-meter and the 4x400 relay team. Bosler is one of four captains on this year's team. The other three are seniors Allison Glitz, Kathryn Martin and Julie Schaadt.

Bosler and some teammates ran for the cross country team to help stay in shape during the fall season.

"I had a really good cross country season and the distance helped me work on my speed for the upcoming indoor season," Bosler said.

Even though cross country helped Bosler and other runners, the cross country season was not kind to everyone on the team.

Freshman Erin Davis and junior Donna Fidler were both injured during the season and will miss the beginning of the indoor season.

If there is one downfall of this team, it is injuries.

"We still need to get everyone healthy and then we should be in good shape," coach Teri Jordan said. "That is the one thing that really hurt us last year that we would like to work on."

All-Americans Kim McGreevy and Erin St. John have graduated, but this year's crop of freshmen is one of the best Jordan said she has seen.

"We have some good freshmen coming in that can make a difference this year," sophomore Felicia Cooksey said.

The one freshman everyone keeps talking about is Olutoyin Augustus.

"Toyin is a sprinter with great potential and will only get better during the season," Jordan said.

The Lions will need Augustus this season if they hope to win the Big Ten crown. This year the Big Ten is going to be tough to win, but Jordan is confident her team can make a run.

"I am really excited about this year's team," Jordan said. "We are coming off a third-place finish in the outdoors and many of the girls are still riding that momentum, but it is still to early to make any predictions."