Unity!
The 2003-04 season saw the beginning of the rebuilding of Penn track and field under the direction of Head Coach Gwen Harris. In only two years, Penn has begun it's steady rise to the top of the Ivy League.
The Penn women's team recorded an impressive season throughout the 2003-04 campaign, rising two team positions in cross country to sixth, four positions in indoor track to fourth, and three positions in outdoor track to fifth overall. Along the way, Penn was able to acquire a 3000m Indoor NCAA All-American in Emily Logan; five new indoor school records; and seven new outdoor records; plus eight NCAA Regional qualifiers.
"Unity" was the motto of this young team last season and will continue to be the theme in 2004-05. Penn, who was led by a core of 10 outstanding seniors last year, will look to continue climbing the Ivy League ladder with six seniors leading the way in 2004-05, including captains Anna-Marie Allander, Samantha Crook and Izu Emeagwali.
Penn was able to succeed last season through work hard, focusing on becoming better student-athletes and working as a team. With the same attitude this season and a youthful energy, the Red and Blue will be a force to reckon with in 2004-05.

Cross Country/Distance
The Quakers will open their season once again at the Fordham Invite. With a year of experience under their belts, the cross country team will be led by a core of sophomore standouts in Lisa Uible, Jackie Dunn, Jen Blank, Emily Buzzell and Tina Morrison. The Red and Blue will once again be a young team as a large freshman class will join the cross country team in the fall of 2004. The only upperclassman on the squad is senior Claire Duncan, who had a great outdoor season as she qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the steeplechase. She will lead 15 young, talented and eager freshman distance runners who have been added to this group. The youthfulness of this team and their talent will be a strong motivational force that will bring this whole group together to kick off the 2004-05 campaign. The cross country and distance teams will be the most exciting group to watch as the bulk of the newcomers are distance runners.

Middle Distance
The middle distance group is a small but talented core of runners. Led by Allander, juniors Jillian Connell and Dana McCurdy, and Morrison, this group has the experience and desire to do great things this season. Their ability to handle varied distances in these relays added so much to the success of the relay teams last season. This returning core group will bring maturity, talent and experience into this area and continue to add depth to the team. Last year this team ran nine top-10 times in the Penn archives. The indoor 4 x 800m relay team ran an impressive 9:07.96 and went on to earn All-East outdoor honors while running the third fastest 4 x 800m for Penn in 8:59.70. Each of these middle distance runners had a personal best season, improving in all their individual events.

Throws
The Penn throwing team is a small group consisting of four student-athletes, but each are very talented. The school record holder in both the shot put (outdoors) and the hammer will return for their junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. Junior Charity Payne (shot put) and sophomores Catrina Chisholm (hammer) and Charli Tabler (hammer and discus), will be the core of the group once again, but there will be three new freshman throwers that should bring depth and talent to this already strong group.
Payne improved at the indoor Ivies from her rookie year as she threw 43' 6 ½" for fourth place, while Chisholm’s toss of 52'8” landed her a fourth-place finish in the 20 lb. weight, while Tabler threw a huge personal best in the weight at 48'6".
The outdoor season saw some outstanding performances for this small group once again. Two Ivy League Champions were crowned with Chisholm throwing 181'11" in hammer and Payne tossing the shot put 47' 4 ½". Both throws were school records.Tabler had another personal best in hammer with a 132' 8" throw and a 130' discus.
Chisholm, Payne and Ivory all qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet in their events.

Jumps
The vertical and horizontal jumps will be handled by three talented sophomores - Shani Boston, Jerri Kumalah, and Johanna Chung and one senior, Rachel Dailey. These four student-athletes are very versatile jumpers and will be able to cover the jumps for Penn quite well.
Senior All-East and regional pole vault qualifier Samantha Crook and junior Lauren Davis will cover the vault once again. Crook is coming off a great junior year, where she set the indoor school record and consistently vaulted over 12' throughout the season.
Adding depth to both these areas will be some outstanding incoming freshmen. With more speed and strength development, these events could be one of the key areas for Penn's success during 2005.

Hurdles and Sprints
The sophomore class holds the majority of the talent in this area, with only one senior among them. Emeagwali, sophomores Jeanette Curtis, Kayla Crawley and Krysta Copleand, along with a several newcomers from all over the country, should make a major impact on the Penn team in 2005. Emeagwali had a brilliant year last season, setting two new school records in the 60m (7.78) and 100m (11.92). She will lead two outstanding sprint hurdlers in Curtis, who is second all-time in the 60m hurdles (8.84) and 60m dash (8.0) and Crawley who was just behind Curtis in both dashes and hurdle races. Copeland, who was a finalist in the Outdoor Ivy Championships in the 400m, also returns as a member of both 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays. (Both relays were ranked second all-time at Penn).

Pentathlon/Heptathlon
The future of the multi events lies in the hands of 2004 Penn Relays champion Boston. The sophomore is only the second Quaker to win a Penn Relays title in Penn women’s track history. Boston had a fantastic freshman season, finishing second in the indoor pentathlon at Ivies (3,598 pts) and fourth in the Outdoor Ivy Championships (4,734 pts.) Her performance at the Relays was the second-best score in Penn history (5,049 pts.). She also ranks second all-time in the pentathlon as well.
Class of 2008
Harris and her coaching staff have recruited an impressive group of freshmen who are among the best high school student-athletes in the country.
Down on the field, the hammer will have the addition of Rhode Island standout Erica Denhoff and the shot will have the addition of both Stephanie Guy (Mass.) and Georgina Owino (Va.). With the addition of three more throwers, this squad should continue to add strength and depth to an already talented group.
The Jumps feature standouts Brittany Middlebrooks (Ala.), Kim Coughlan (Mass.) and two new vaulters Crista McDonald (Pa.) and Hannah Feuerstein (Colo.).
On the track, there will be the addition of some outstanding sprinters. Haley Cusack (N.Y.), Shaunee Morgan (N.Y.), Jesse Carlin (N.Y.), Neetu Dahliwal (Mass.), Emily Muncy-Keller (N.J).,Carolyn Auwaerter (Pa.), Ashley McFarlane (Canada) and Brittany Middlebrooks (Ala.).
The bulk of the recruiting was in the middle and long distances. In this area, there is a lot of fine, young talent, that ranges from 800m up to 5000m. They hail from all over the country and will add even more depth to a young distance team. Penn will welcome Laura Drossner (Md.), Katrina Fincher (Del.), Danielle Almeida (Fla.), Kelley McGrath (Pa.), Claire and Stacy Kim (Calif.), Kathryn Urban (Calif.), Robin McDowell (N.J.), Jamie Liberti (NJ), and Kaitlin Baggot (N.Y.) in 2004-05.

Looking Toward the Future
The Quakers will return 33 upperclassmen and with the addition o 24 freshmen in 2004-05, the Penn team will be very exciting to watch. Youth, talent, determination and unity, will be a part of the Red and Blue standard for next year. Penn has a very exciting future up ahead.