Trackwomen to battle in Doug Raymond Invitational, second weekend meet canceled

By MIKE MITSTIFER
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State women's track team has some unfinished business to take care of.

After canceling their trip to Kent, Ohio, two weeks ago because of weather concerns, the Lady Lions will once again attempt to travel to Kent State University, this time for the Doug Raymond Invitational beginning at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The first scheduled trip to Kent State was two weekends ago for the Golden Flash Open. That trip was cancelled when a winter storm made driving too treacherous for the team to travel. While everyone agrees that the safety of the team was much more important, the missed meet did cost the Lions valuable experience.

Initially, the Lions, who have captured 19 top-10 finishes in their only two meets, were supposed to send teams to two different meets this weekend, one to Kent State and the other to East Tennessee State. The trip to Johnson City, Tenn., was supposed to be a place where the team could compete with a large number of schools for national qualifying marks. But having already missed a meet this year, head coach Teri Jordan felt Penn State would be better served performing in another event as a team.

"Had we been able to go to Kent two weeks ago, we would have gone and tried to get some national qualifiers," said Jordan. "But I feel that the team is starting to build nicely, and we don't want to try to peak too soon."

While the two previous finishes have brought the Lions positively interpreted results, the Doug Raymond Invitational provides them with their first chance of the season to compete directly with other schools in a team-scoring meet.

"We're looking forward to having the whole team together this weekend for a team-scoring meet," said Jordan. "It will be nice to finally have a meet where the people can understand how well we've done."

Along with Penn State and host Kent State, the meet includes teams from Bowling Green, Toledo, Ohio and West Virginia.

Penn State's charge this season has been mostly led by All-American triple jumper Shakeema Walker. The defending Big Ten champion has posted top-10 finishes in both of her triple jump events along with both her long jump performances.

The Lions will also get back valuable freshman thrower Deshaya Williams, who missed last weekend's meet due to the death of her grandmother.

Jordan is also high on the performance of junior distance runner Susanne Heyer. The native of Germany placed an impressive sixth last weekend in the 800-meter race, a trend that Jordan expects will continue.

But it's not all good news for the Lions. Jordan now fears that junior sprinter Laila Brock will not fully recover from her knee injury and is in jeopardy of missing the entire indoor season.

"Laila is a potential Big Ten champion," said Jordan. "That would be a huge loss for us."

Sophomore distance runner Amanda Dulin is also expected to miss the meet while she rests her injured hamstring.

But despite Brock and Dulin's injuries, the team is optimistic about its future.

"Everybody seems to really want to succeed this year and at Big Tens," said freshman thrower Robbin Shomper. "We all want to make it there as a team."