| Shana Cox split 51.3 on the 400-leg to help the sprint medley to a new school record as well as a second-place finish in the Championship of America section. |
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.; April 27, 2007 ?C Two more school records went down on Friday as the Nittany Lion track and field teams continued to impress at the historic Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
The team of Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.), Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.), Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.), and Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.) shattered the previous sprint medley record by nearly three seconds, clocking 3:47.90 to finish second in the ??championship?? section of the relay. Cox sprinted to a split of 51.3 on the 400-meter leg, the fastest of the evening. The previous Nittany Lion record was 3:50.15, set in 2005. Barber also shined in the 100-meter hurdles, running a career-best 13.45, the eighth-best time in the field, and an improvement on her prior regional-qualifying performance.
The 4x1500-meter team also set a new school standard, running 17:57.28 for a sixth-place finish in the ??Championship of America?? heat, to better the former PSU benchmark of 18:07.25 from 2004. Team members included Meghan Noecker (Reading, Pa.), Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Claire Percival (Sarnia, Ontario). The record is Franek??s second in as many days, as the freshman clocked a blistering 9:59.21 to win the steeplechase on Thursday night.
Steve Meyers (Wayne, Pa.) hit the regional standard in the discus with a mark of 172-1 (52.45m), good for third in the college section. Teammate Dane Miller (Reading, Pa.) managed a sixth-place finish in the same competition, throwing 162-6 (49.53m). Miller also took top honors in the college division of the shot put, posting a season-best mark of 55-1 (16.79m). Meyers placed fifth with a throw of 53-11.25 (16.44m).
The Nittany Lions were well represented in the women??s discus championship with Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) and Christen Clemson (Courtland, Ohio) taking fifth and sixth, respectively, with tosses of 165-4 (50.39m), and 164-4 (50.09m) ?C both regional-caliber performances.
Ryan Kleintop (Slatington, Pa.) wound up third in the men??s eastern division long jump, posting a leap of 23-8.25 (7.22m). John Vellenoweth (Wheeling, W.Va.) cleared 15-7 (4.75m) in the pole vault on his way to finishing in a tie for sixth in the college section.
Action in Philadelphia concludes tomorrow afternoon. Follow the results at the www.pennrelaysonline.com.