Princeton

PRINCETON — From the get-go, you know you're into a bizarre tale with John Guare's Are You There, McPhee?, a world premiere that opened Friday at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. Its narrator, a playwright, tells acquaintances he has a story to tell, about an inexplicable event in his life involving abandoned children, a porn ring, a sea monster, and Walt Disney. And so he begins the narrative, which sounds compelling enough at its start. But the tiresome Are You There, McPhee?

Princeton assistant men's track coach Steve Dolan calls senior Donn Cabral the ultimate competitor. Cabral's teammates refer to him as Track Jesus, because they trust him. "We know he's a warrior," sophomore Tom Hopkins said. Late Friday afternoon at Franklin Field, Cabral had to be. Because just about every other anchor in the closing 1,600-meter leg of the Penn Relays Distance Medley Championship of America race was within spitting distance of him. From the time he took the baton until they all headed around the last turn, they were virtually together, 13 strong if you're keeping score.

TV/Radio: Versus; WFIL-AM (990). Records: Penn, 6-1, 4-0 Ivy League; Princeton, 1-6, 0-4. Coaches: Penn, Al Bagnoli (19th season, 128-57 at Penn); Princeton, Bob Surace (first season, 1-6). Series: Princeton leads, 63-37-1. Penn outlook: Penn stands as the lone undefeated team in the Ivy League after last week's 24-7 win over Brown. The Quakers have dropped only one game this season, a 22-10 nonleague loss at Villanova on Sept. 25. A win would give the Quakers their ninth consecutive league road victory and first 7-1 start since 2004.

When: Saturday afternoon at 1 , Franklin Field. Radio: WNTP-AM (990). Records: Penn, 4-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy League; Princeton, 1-6, 1-3. Coaches: Penn, Al Bagnoli (20th season, 135-60); Brown, Bob Surace (2d season, 2-15). Series: Princeton leads, 63-38-1. Last season, Penn rocked the host Tigers, 52-10, to hand them their seventh loss of the season. THINGS TO WATCH After its 18-game Ivy League winning streak was snapped last week, the Quakers will have to rebound quickly to avoid a skid.

For the last year now, state Rep. Sam Rohrer, a Berks County Republican, has been investigating the state's ACCESS program, which enables school districts to be reimbursed through Medicaid for services to special-education and emotionally troubled students. Some schools run the program through on-site health clinics; some of those are funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. How these facts became a conspiracy is anyone's guess. But sure enough, during a hearing in Harrisburg last Tuesday, a health-care attorney told Mr. Rohrer's panel that the ACCESS program and the health clinics are really part of a covert scheme to create a national health-care system, paid for by the Princeton-based Johnson foundation.

Washington, Princeton and Brown all placed boats in today's three grande finals at the inaugural NCAA women's rowing championships yesterday. Washington won the faster qualifying heats in both the varsity eight and varsity four at Lake Natoma, home course of Sacramento State. But Princeton's varsity eight had the day's best time, 6 minutes, 41.5 seconds, while rowing in the second heat. The Huskies were a tenth of a second slower.

Princeton made some key foul shots when it needed to defeat pesky host Cornell last night, 61-57, to maintain its narrow Ivy League lead. Princeton had to rally from as many as nine back to defeat the Big Red. Princeton (15-9, 10-2 Ivy League) is still in first place, followed by Yale (10-3) and Penn (9-3). The Tigers are at Columbia tonight. In another Ivy game: At Yale, Alex Gamboa scored 17 points, leading the Bulldogs to a 77-72 victory over Harvard, keeping their title hopes alive.

Devona Allgood scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Princeton (12-2) downed host La Salle, 68-49. Jamie Walsh had 13 points and Morgan Robertson added 10 for La Salle (5-10)., which fell to 5-10.In another game: Kim Adams (16 points) and Sarah Bucar (14) led Penn (1-11), but Erin Prosser's 16 points led Lehigh (13-2) to a 66-51 victory.

HARVARD remains the heavy conference favorite, but the Crimson still has two Penn/Princeton weekends to navigate. The team that emerges as the bigger challenger for the top likely will be determined tonight at the Palestra when Penn plays Princeton. Penn (10-9, 2-0 Ivy League) is playing just its second game in 16 days while Princeton (10-8, 1-1) has not played in 16 days. Each has the at-Yale/Brown games this weekend, so winning here is critical. If the Quakers can get through the weekend without losing, they will have put themselves in perfect position for the Feb. 10 home game with Harvard (18-2, 4-0)

Thinking of decorating your home with 18th- or 19th-century American furniture? See what a piece might look like in position by checking out the furniture displayed in more than 28 room settings at the Nassau Inn Antique Show in Princeton this weekend. All the furniture will be for sale, as will the accessories used to complete the decor, Greek and Roman antiquities, rare maps and books and original art. Show hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Sunday.

PRINCETON — Conductor Rossen Milanov has been making the Philadelphia version of the Grand Tour: Last week was Symphony in C in Camden, Friday was the Curtis (his alma mater) Symphony Orchestra at the Mann Center, and Sunday — most notably — was his end-of-season Princeton Symphony Orchestra concert at Richardson Auditorium here. In a program featuring Brahms' Symphony No. 4 and a new work by Princeton composer Sarah Kirkland Snider, Milanov stepped out from behind his image as dependable, congenial Rossen to become a conductor who wields demonic power.

PRINCETON — From the get-go, you know you're into a bizarre tale with John Guare's Are You There, McPhee?, a world premiere that opened Friday at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. Its narrator, a playwright, tells acquaintances he has a story to tell, about an inexplicable event in his life involving abandoned children, a porn ring, a sea monster, and Walt Disney. And so he begins the narrative, which sounds compelling enough at its start. But the tiresome Are You There, McPhee?

Princeton assistant men's track coach Steve Dolan calls senior Donn Cabral the ultimate competitor. Cabral's teammates refer to him as Track Jesus, because they trust him. "We know he's a warrior," sophomore Tom Hopkins said. Late Friday afternoon at Franklin Field, Cabral had to be. Because just about every other anchor in the closing 1,600-meter leg of the Penn Relays Distance Medley Championship of America race was within spitting distance of him. From the time he took the baton until they all headed around the last turn, they were virtually together, 13 strong if you're keeping score.

Veteran Penn Relays watchers couldn't remember anything like it. With 150 meters remaining in a distance medley relay that covers 4,000 meters in all, no fewer than eight teams had an opportunity to cross the finish line first. But it was Princeton's Donn Cabral, the pacesetter for much of the final laps, who held off all the challengers Friday and lifted the Tigers to a dramatic victory, one of the highlights of a busy day at the carnival before a crowd of 39,531 at Franklin Field.

Maddy Lynch didn't get into Princeton, after being recruited for a spot in the Tigers' prestigious women's lacrosse program, without having some serious smarts - on and off the field. But the on-the-field part wasn't always so clear for Lynch, a senior at Springfield (Delaware County) and star midfielder for the Cougars. As of her sophomore season, colleges were hardly sniffing around. Scholarship offers didn't appear on the horizon, her game was still developing, and it wasn't always certain she would get to the next level.

Maddy Lynch didn't get into Princeton, after being recruited for a spot in the Tigers' prestigious women's lacrosse program, without having some serious smarts - on and off the field. But the on-the-field part wasn't always so clear for Lynch, a senior at Springfield (Delaware County) and star midfielder for the Cougars. As of her sophomore season, colleges were hardly sniffing around. Scholarship offers didn't appear on the horizon, her game was still developing, and it wasn't always certain she would get to the next level.

PRINCETON - Opponents are suing over the Institute for Advanced Study's plan to build residences on part of the site of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Princeton. The institute where Albert Einstein worked received unanimous planning-board permission last month to build 15 faculty housing units on seven acres of the site and agreed to preserve the other 14 acres. The Princeton Battlefield Society filed suit this week to block the construction, arguing that it violated a 20-year-old agreement between the institute and Princeton Township on where homes may be built on the property.

PRINCETON, N.J. - At least last night mattered. When it comes to the Ivy League, really, that is the point. Perhaps that will be this heroic team's legacy. Last night, the loss was too bitter for the Quakers to see it for themselves. After four seasons of excruciating insignificance, Penn was back where it belonged: At Jadwin Gymnasium, in a meaningful Tuesday night season finale, with a chance to beat Princeton, and, by doing so, win a 26th Ivy League title, sharing it with Harvard.

ZACK ROSEN is Penn's all-time leader in assists (575) and minutes (4,080). He is third in scoring (1,677 points). He is the only player in school history to have more than 100 assists in each of his four seasons. Some day, the senior point guard may look at those numbers and smile. It is, however, what Rosen does not have that is most important to him. Neither he nor his senior teammates, Tyler Bernardini, Rob Belcore and Mike Howlett, has an Ivy League title. They can rectify that by winning tonight at Princeton.

Penn falls to Princeton in season finale PRINCETON, N.J. - It was a few days before Christmas in 2009. Penn was 0-6. Athletic director Steve Bilsky knew his fan base had drifted away. The players had completely lost their confidence. The fans and the players needed something or someone to believe in. Bilsky named Penn legend Jerome Allen, with all of 3 months college coaching experience, interim head coach. Allen had a few weeks to get ready for his first game as coach.