Jan. 19, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio), and senior Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.) posted school-record performances in the respective events, highlighting another outstanding effort from the Nittany Lion track and field teams, Saturday at the Penn State Open, at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
"Overall, it was a great day for Penn State," said Director of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "We made a huge set forward in momentum today. If you take a close look at the results, we made huge strides across the board today."
Borchers, after running on two winning relays last weekend, won his first individual collegiate title in the 1,000-meters, clocking a school-record 2:22.42. In the furious finish, Borchers passed Pittsburgh standout Sam Bair with 300-meters to go, and kicked for the win, shattering Matt Lincoln's 2:22.50 from 2003. Teammate Brian Fuller (Camp Hill, Pa.) also posted a PR performance in the heat, running 2:26.26, good for fourth place.
"I just wanted to run to win, so I hung back and waited," said Borchers of his race plan. "I passed the guy (Bair of Pittsburgh) at 300 to go, but I kept waiting until 200 to go to break away. I think that was the best thing I did strategically."
"It was such an exciting and tremendous performance from Sam," said Alford-Sullivan of the star rookie. "What an impressive start to a great, young career."
Simmons was just as impressive in the 600-meters, running a PR and school record 1:29.81, bettering the previous Penn State standard of 1:30.22, set by Erica Bosler in 1998.
"My race went well," said Simmons of her record-run in the 600. "I executed the race strategy that Coach Johnson and I laid out, so I'm pleased with it. I'd been chasing this record since my freshman year, and I'm glad it finally came down today."
Simmons, a two-time NCAA All-American, is now undoubtedly the queen of middle distance in the Penn State indoor archives, as the senior now owns Nittany Lion records in the 600, 800, and 1000. Freshman Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) also gave an impressive performance in the 600, finishing second in 1:18.92. Williams, the national leader in the event as a high school senior in 2007, bettered his previous personal-best 1:19.40 in the process.
Also pulling in a middle distance win was sophomore Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), who ran a PR 2:29.92 to cap off a Nittany Lion sweep in the 1000. Junior Megan Noecker (Reading, Pa.) posted a second-place effort, running 2:53.17.
Senior Lena Bettis (Riverside, Calif.) was a double winner in the field, claiming victories in the long and triple jumps. Bettis bested current and high school teammate Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) by less than an inch to win the long jump, posting a season-best 19-07.50 (5.98) to Hunters' 19-06.75 (5.96). Bettis managed a leap of 40-06.75 (12.36) to win the triple jump, heading up another 1-2 finish by the Nittany Lions as freshman Gabriela Baiter (Greenlawn, N.Y.) took runner-up honors with a jump of 40-00.50 (12.20).
Sophomore Ryan Taylor (Spanish Town, Jamaica) was outstanding in the horizontal jumps on the men's side, posting a second-place finish in the triple jump, as well as a third-place effort in the long jump in his first competition as a Nittany Lion.
Junior Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) posted her second PR in as many weeks to win the shot put with a heave of 47-11.75 (14.62) - well over two feet ahead of the rest of the field. Senior Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa.) was another Lion winner in the throws, tossing a season-best 63-01.25 (19.23) to lead a dominate one-through-five effort from the Nittany Lions in the men's weight throw.
"Our throwers showed great improvements," said Alford-Sullivan. "They made some technical adjustments from last weekend and made a very impressive showing today."
Senior Helen Higgins (Waynesburg, Pa.) was the runner up in the women's weight with a season-best throw of 55-11.75 (17.06), while freshman Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) was the top Lion finisher in the men's shot put, turning in a third-place effort with a collegiate-best mark of 54-03.25 (16.54).
Freshman Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.), senior Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.), and junior Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) were all winners in the sprints, with Greaves taking the 60-meters in 7.54, Blake leading a Nittany Lion sweep in the 400-meters, and Barber winning the hurdles for the second-straight week. Greaves remains undefeated in the short dash over her first two collegiate appearances, after setting a new Penn State record in the 55-meters last weekend. Blake's 54.71 led a 1-2-3 effort from the Lions with Simmons in second in 55.30, and Hunter in third in 55.39. Barber won in 8.39, bettering the NCAA provisional qualifying standard for the second-straight week.
Greaves, Simmons, Blake and Barber would all pick up another win in the 4x400-meters, combining to run 3:41.25. The men's distance medley added another relay win to the Lion total, running 10:09.79 in a dominate effort. The team included junior Tim Johnson (New Cumberland, Pa.), junior Justin Babich (Coopersburg, Pa.), senior Mark Horton (Suffern, N.Y.), and junior John Mahoney (Richboro, Pa.).
The Lions continue their month-long home stand next weekend, competing at the high powered Penn State National Invitational. The action begins on Friday, January 25, at Ashenfelter Indoor Track.