| Gayle Hunter hit the NCAA automatic standard in the heptathlon on Wednesday, scoring 5606 at the prestigious Penn Relays. |
PHILADELPHIA: April 25, 2007 ?C Thanks to career-best days all around, members of the Nittany Lion track and field team managed to sweep the multi-events at the Penn Relays on Wednesday, with Lions taking the top three places in the men??s decathlon, as well as the top two slots in the women??s heptathlon. Sophomore Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) tallied the event win on the women??s side, while sophomore Chris Morrisey (Ligonier, Pa.) coming out on top of the men??s field, both posting NCAA qualifying performances.
Hunter bettered the NCAA automatic standard with a career-best score of 5606, the seventh-best tally in the country this season. Hunter closed the competition with a personal-best 800-meter time of 2:17.20, after posting marks of 19-9 (6.02m) in the long jump, and 113-6 (34.59m) in the javelin.
Teammate Amber Strouse (State College, Pa.) finished as the runner-up, scoring a personal-best total of 4919. Strouse??s day two marks included a leap of 17-5.50 (5.32m), a toss of 75-7.50 (23.05m) in the javelin, and a performance of 2:21.36 in the 800.
Morrisey eclipsed the 7000-point barrier for the first time in his career, going 7014, thanks to a career-best 4:41.04 in the day??s final event ?C the 1500-meters. Morrisey??s performance also betters the NCAA provisional standard of 6900.
Shawn Colligan (Bradford, Pa.) and James Myles (Merrimack, N.H.) completed the Nittany Lion sweep with second and third place finishes, posting scores of 6781, and 6391, respectively - both career bests.
| Chris Morrisey hit the NCAA provisional standard in the decathlon on Wednesday, scoring 7014 to win the prestigious Penn Relays. |
Competition picks up in full force tomorrow morning, beginning with the championship section of the women??s 400-meter hurdles at 10 a.m. Regional qualifiers Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) and Kim Markel (Wexford, Pa.) are both entered to compete in the event.
The majority of the college women??s events will be contested Thursday, with the distance carnival portion of the weekend beginning at 7:15 p.m. The Nittany Lions will be well represented in the distance events, with freshman and regional-qualifier Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio) leading the way in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Teammates Claire Percival (Sarnia, Ontario) and Sonja Hinish (Williamsburg, Pa.) will also compete in the event, looking to build on regional-caliber performances from earlier this season. Also representing the Lions in the women??s long distances will be Jessie Babcock (Irvine, Calif.) in the 5000-meters, and Claire Berryman (Morgantown, W.Va.) in the 10,000-meters.
Junior Mike Syrnick (Philadelphia, Pa.) will look to impress the hometown crowd in the men??s steeplechase, after posting a breakout 9:09.84 at the Bucknell Team Challenge last weekend in his first career try in the event.
Senior All-American Dan Mazzocco (Pittsburgh, Pa.), along with sophomore John Mahoney (Richboro, Pa.) will compete in the 5,000-meters on Thursday night, while the Lion trio of Tyler McCandless (Allentown, Pa.), Dennis O??Connor (Philadelphia, Pa.), and Patrick Murphy (Johnson City, N.Y.) will take on the field in the grueling 10,000.
Check www.GoPSUSports.com for complete results and recaps following competition at the Penn Relays.