Penningroth Hurdles Back From Injury to Contribute

It was a hurdle drill that junior pentathlete and women's track co-captain Ailey Penningroth had run countless times before.

Only this time, something went wrong. Penningroth stepped on the base of the hurdle, twisted her ankle and broke a hard-to-reach, hard-to-heal bone in her foot.

"I was in disbelief," Penningroth says. "It was a real disappointment to have worked all preseason only to have this happen right before championships."

As a consequence of her injury, Penningroth was confined to a cast for 22 weeks and to crutches for nearly as long. She couldn't compete in Heps with her teammates; nor could she join them in a much-anticipated summer trip to England and Ireland.

To most athletes, such an injury would seem life-shattering. Penningroth, however, was much more optimistic about the situation.

"I regained my faith in humanity when I was on crutches," she says. "For six months, I couldn't even eat without someone holding a tray for me."

Neither was Penningroth abandoned by her teammates. She points to the support of fellow Mather House residents Jen Braga and Stacy Barber, as well as Heather MacLennan and co-captain Amanda Williams, as crucial to her well-being during her recovery period.

"They never allowed me to feel like I wasn't a part of the team," Penningroth says.

Indeed, whereas at many schools Penningroth might have been forgotten after a serious injury, Harvard teammates continued to make her feel at home.

"Here, they were with me through all the surgeries and everything, she says. "They took me along on all of the road trips, and they always made it clear that I would be welcomed back to the team no matter how long I took to recover."

This caring atmosphere was part of what have Penningroth, a Princeton, N.J. move, in choose Harvard over myriad schools competing for her athletic and academic presence.

For as long as she has been involved in track, Penningroth has felt a special affinity teammates and coaches. She points to friendly footraces with a neighborhood companion as her first foray in track and field, and she credit her high school track coach with finding her love and dedication for the sprit.

Love for her mentors and compatriots has in no way diminished Penningroth's individual performance, however. Her athletic versatility has allowed her to shine at Harvard in the pentathalon and in various throwing events--roles that have increased in importance this year due to the team's relative lack of accomplished throwers.

Moreover, Penningorth sees track and field as a way of satisfying personal goals within the often taxing Harvard academic environment.

"When you come to Harvard, you're not the academic star," she says. "Finishing a very hard workout and waiting home with a feeling of accomplishment really helps to keep things in focus."

This focus has been invaluable to Penningroth in her recovery from last year's injury. In her quest to help Harvard win, Penningroth has been working hard on strength training for the throwing events while taking care to maintain the speed and dexterity required for the jumps and dashes of the pentathalon. Although she is modest about her own abilities, she is openly excited about the team's upcoming season.

"If we can get through exams and pull back together again, I think that we can do really well this year," she says. "The league race is wide open, and with our great freshman class, our talent is as good as anybody's."

Indeed, with no clear frontrunner in the Ivy League race, the title-taker may just be the team that wants it most. From Penningroth's point of view, Harvard is definitely that team.

"The work ethic on this team is incredible from top to bottom," she says. "We want to win so bad!"

If the Crimson women's track team as whole can display Penningroth's tough yet optimistic outlook, this year's Ivy crown is clearly within its grasp.