| Shana Cox ran 51.27 to finish as the NCAA runner up at 400-meters ?C the highest finish by a Lion since the 2003 season. |
SACRAMENTO, Calif.: June 9, 2007 ?C Junior Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) earned her seventh-career All-America citation on Saturday, finishing second in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Alex J. Spanos Sports Complex. Cox??s runner-up run is the highest finish by a Nittany Lion since DeShaya Williams won the NCAA title in the discus in 2003. Cox is also the 56th outdoor All-American in program history.
??Shana executed her race plan perfectly and competed with flying colors,?? said Director of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. ??The entire Penn State program couldn??t be more proud.??
Cox claimed the highest NCAA finish of her illustrious career, clocking 51.27 ?C the second-fastest time she??s ever run, and just .12 seconds off her personal best. Cox looked strong from the start, and ran an outstanding last 100-meters to hold off a hard-charging Ashlee Kidd from Georgia Tech for the silver medal. South Carolina??s Natasha Hastings won in 50.15, with Kidd in third in 51.61.
??I was very happy with how my race went,?? said Cox. ??I ran faster and placed higher than I did at this meet last year and I ran my own race. I improved a lot, and I??m happy on a lot of levels.??
Junior Heidi Nadeau (North Hampton, N.H.) ended up 11th in the second round of the women??s javelin in her first-career NCAA appearance. Nadeau threw a series of 154-9 (47.17), 150-8 (45.93), 148-3 (45.19), finishing short of advancing to the nine-athlete final. Nadeau??s career year has included a Big Ten runner-up finish, as well as a fifth-place effort at the NCAA East Regional.
The Lions have one more date on their 2007 calendar, moving onto the USATF Senior/Junior National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., on June 21-24.