Host Tigers roar past trackmen, UConn at tri-meet

By MATT WONG
Collegian Staff Writer

After last year's thrilling one-point victory at Princeton, the drama and the outcome were less spectacular for the Penn State men's indoor track team this time.

The Nittany Lions finished second in a tri-meet with East powerhouses Princeton and Connecticut Saturday at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.

It marked the second week in a row that the Lions suffered a loss, dropping their record to 11-2, after a blistering 8-0 start.

"It's no fun to lose, but it does give us perspective," Penn State co-captain Joe Hubbard said. "Good teams always put you in your place."

The Tigers put the Lions in second place by scoring 134 points, pouncing on the Lions (111) and the Huskies (110) early.

"Princeton is a very good team," Penn State coach Harry Groves said. "And they're at the height of their game right now."

The Lions, however, didn't reach the height of their game this week.

They know they have the talent, Hubbard said, but they didn't step it up and were hurt by too many mistakes. Groves said he wasn't displeased with his team's performance but also agreed that they should have done better.

The Lions did manage to take first-place in two events, however.

George Audu continued to electrify in the long jump, winning the event with a meet-record leap of 25 feet, 5 1/2 inches, and Josh Brashears won the 3,000-meter run with his fastest time of the season -- 8 minutes, 25.96 seconds.

Despite only two first-place finishes, the Lions finished second to a couple of record-breaking Tigers.

Penn State's Ryan Olkowski continued to high jump impressively, clearing the bar at 6-11, falling short to Princeton's Tora Harris, who had a meet-record jump of 7-2 1/2. Bradd DelMuto also placed second in the 1,000-meter run for the Lions, with a time of 2:28.18. He was beaten by Princeton's Jim Colling, who also set a meet-record with a time of 2:27.69

In addition, Johan Sandquist finished second in the one-mile run with a time of 4:14.05, Jon Kuretich took second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.60, and Gregg Davis placed second with a time of 8:29.13 in the 3,000.

Audu also chipped in with a second-place finish in the 60-meter dash.

Next Friday and Saturday, the Lions will travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Invitational.