Trackwomen hope season stays on track

By MIKE MITSTIFER
Collegian Staff Writer

In long distance races, the runner who darts out in front of the pack at the beginning of the race is usually at a disadvantage. Those early leaders often end up dropping back into the pack and out of contention by the time they cross the finish line.

The Penn State women's indoor track team hopes the same trend does not apply to its season as it begins preliminaries at the Golden Flash Invitational at 4 p.m. today in Kent, Ohio at Kent State University. Finals are slated for 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The Lady Lions came off the starting line quickly at the Father Diamond Memorial Meet last weekend. They outperformed the other collegiate teams that attended.

Recording 10 top-five finishes in a meet that invited college teams in addition to athletes from above the collegiate level certainly caused some raised eyebrows.

"It was an outstanding meet," said coach Teri Jordan, "we had a fabulous start for our first meet out."

Interestingly, Penn State's top finishers last weekend included an unusually high number of underclassmen, a point that has not gone unnoticed by both coaches and players.

"We have a good bunch of underclassmen, and as we go into bigger meets, the younger kids won't back down. But you do look for your senior leadership to take over in the bigger meets," said freshman thrower Deshaya Williams.

The Lions are the defending champions of the Golden Flash Open, winning last year with a total of 154 points, well outdistancing eight other teams, including host and second-place team, Kent State.

In particular, Lion sophomore Olotoyin Augustus had a strong meet, winning the 55-meter high hurdles and finishing second to teammate Tiffany Glenn in the 55-meter dash.

Sophomore Mary Beth Acker also returns to the site of her first collegiate win, which she recorded in the mile run.

A key to the team's success has been the ability for everyone to stay healthy and in the lineup. Nagging injuries are the enemy of any track coach, but after last year's season plague of sprains and pulls, this year's team has been able to stay out of the trainer's room in the early stages of the season.

"We had a few tight muscles (last weekend)," Jordan said, "but most everyone was able to come out healthy."