Gyorffy Takes Second at Penn Relays

Just like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, sophomore Dora Gyorffy and University of Texas junior Erin Aldrich always seem to meet whenever the stakes are high.

On Thursday at the 105th Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Aldrich jumped 1.87 meters to beat Gyorffy by three centimeters in the high jump.

Aldrich won this year's indoor NCAA championship and the indoor and outdoor crowns last year. Gyorffy finished second at this year's NCAA indoor championships and third her freshman year. She also finished third at the NCAA outdoor championships last year.

Gyorffy's defeat of Aldrich in last year's Penn Relays handed Aldrich her first-ever high jump loss.

This year, however, Aldrich got revenge.

"We have competed so much against each other that we get along pretty well," Gyorffy said. "It's really fun to compete against her, and I don't get a chance to compete with people who are that good."

Gyorffy held the lead after she made her first attempt at 1.84 meters. Aldrich eventually cleared that height, but then both missed on their first two tries at 1.87 meters. Gyorffy missed her third and final try, while Aldrich made hers.

"It was a good competition, and lots of people were watching us," Gyorffy said. "We're both getting ready for the summer, so we're practicing hard and not peaking yet, so we didn't jump that high."

"I'm pretty happy," she added. "I haven't been jumping that great, so I'm getting there."

In the women's 4x400 relay at Penn Relays, Harvard set a school record with a time of 3:42.84.

Co-captain Heather Hanson, sophomore Brenda Taylor, senior Lee Shearer, and sophomore Marna Schutte combined to break the mark.

"The atmosphere was incredible," Taylor said. "They announced that there were 19,000 people there, and it's the biggest track meet on the East Coast."

"We ran a great race," she added. "Brown has the record for the 4x400 Heptagonal race at 3:42.71, so we were so close. We really came together on the same day, and everyone ran really well. The amazing thing is we didn't use starting blocks, so we potentially could have run faster."

On the men's side, sophomore Chris Clever threw 65.96 meters in the javelin--well below his season-best of 69.54 meters--to take fourth in the event.

Senior Scott Muoio ran 8:59 in the steeplechase, just off his personal record.

"He has improved each time he's run that event this year," co-captain Joe Ciollo said. "When he's on a roll, he's pretty much unstoppable. What's even scarier is that he wasn't that satisfied with his time."

Sophomore John Kraay placed 10th in the Eastern college men's shotput, and sophomore Arthur Fergusson took sixth in the Eastern college men's triple jump.

Aside from Gyorffy's success, the most memorable part of the Penn Relays was the trip.

For those traveling down Thursday night, the train arrived five hours late because the central tracking system was "disabled multiple times," according to Ciollo.

"We saw a dead body in New Jersey, where they were pulling it off the track as we pulled out of the station," Ciollo said. "In Rhode Island, we saw a house that was completely on fire. The whole trip was pretty much a nightmare."

After the team staggered off the train, things didn't get much better. The Harvard contingent arrived at the Clarion Suites around 12:30 a.m. It went out for dinner and came back 20 minutes later to find the power out at the hotel.

Because the doors used keycards instead of keys, the team was locked out until 3:30 a.m.

Friday afternoon, the men's 4x400 team of freshman Osahon Omoregie, sophomore Richie Powell, junior Cabral Williams, and Ciollo checked in at 3:30 for its 4:00 race. The meet was then postponed for half an hour, but it began raining harder after the races resumed.

Because the organizers were trying to run heats as quickly as possible, the athletes were lined up in their racing clothes in the paddock. With the Heptagonal heat just a couple races away, the meet was postponed again.

"We ran for cover and waited for an hour and a half," Ciollo said. "Our sweats had been lying on the track and were soaked, and eventually all the Ivy teams but Penn, the host, left."

Yesterday, Harvard hosted Boston College in an unscored meet. It was a relaxed affair that allowed athletes to try out different events.

Junior Darren Dinneen won the 800-meter with a 1:50.6. In high school, he ranked second nationally in the event, but he has battled injuries at Harvard. Dinneen also anchored the winning 4x400 relay, which he ran for the first time this year.

"Most of my seasons have either started late or cut short, and it's been very frustrating," Dinneen said. "I haven't been training that long, and it'll be a couple weeks or even a month before I peak, but I think things are falling into place now. I haven't started to do speed work yet because of hamstring problems, so I think I can go quite a bit faster."

Omoregie won the 400-meter with a personal best of 48.75.

"Because there was no 3000-meter and no 800-meter, a lot of people ended up doing the 1500," co-captain Margaret Schotte said. "It was a nice experience to be racing with teammates we normally don't get to compete with."

Next weekend, both teams are at Columbia for the Heptagonal championships.

"Yesterday was a low-key atmosphere, and some people relaxed and had better races than normal," Schotte said. "It's a good attitude to have going into Heps."