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Track
enters meet banged up The baseball team has played in front of an average crowd of 1,642 fans this season. Last fall, the football team played in front of 28,990 spectators a game. Today, 45,000 people will watch the track and field team compete in the Penn Relays, head coach Monte Stratton said.
“The crowd is the best I have ever seen at a collegiate meet,” Stratton said. “There will be 45,000 there, and it will be packed.” Starting today, the Frogs, ranked No. 17 in the nation by Trackwire Online, will compete in the three-day event in Philadelphia, which is the best-attended track meet in the world besides the Olympic Games and the World Championships. Stratton said the Frogs have an opportunity to gain exposure to help draw top recruits, but they will be battling the injury bug and have to face stiff competition. “It’s a very limited squad,” Stratton said. “It will be around nine guys and 13 to 14 women due to all of our injuries. Those who go will be the ones who are expected to do well at the national meet.” Stratton said a good showing could make it easier for the Frogs to recruit in the Northeast. “It is national exposure in a part of the country where we normally do not run,” Stratton said. “So it’s a recruiting tool ... for people in the Northeast who may not know what TCU is until they see our track team.” The Frogs return to the meet looking to defend several titles. First is the 4x100-meter relay, which the Frogs have won eight times and last year set a Penn Relays record of 38.68 seconds. There is also the 4x200-meter relay, which the Frogs have won six times and last year captured in 1:19.99. Both titles were also won by the team in 2000. This will be the 108th running of the historical meet. According to (http://www.thepennrelays.com), over 100,000 people of all ages have competed in the tournament in past 10 years. Danny
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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
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