Feb. 1, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.: February 1, 2008 - Senior Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa.) posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying performance in the 35-lb weight throw, while a slew of Nittany Lions picked up event victories, Friday evening at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. All told, the Lions wound up with four wins on the evening, with both junior Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) and senior Ron Jules (Tom's River, N.J.) winning the 60-meter hurdles, junior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) claiming the long jump, and the men's distance medley relay claiming top honors over a challenging field.
Both the men's and women's squads are out to early leads in the team standings, with six events completed on the men's side, and seven on the women's. The men's team totaled 42 points on day one, just ahead of Missouri with 37. Kent State is in third with 31 points, while Cornell and Princeton are in fourth and fifth, respectively. The Lion women put 63 points on the board to 52 from Missouri, 38 from Cornell, 21 from Princeton, and 20 from Tulane.
Hoffman recorded a season-best toss of 65-00.75 (19.83) to take fourth in a stacked weight throw competition which featured a total of five NCAA qualifiers. Hoffman took fourth behind a trio of Missouri Tigers, all of whom improved their standings on the NCAA list. Missouri's Chris Rohr took top honors with a mark of 67-11 (20.70), which is currently the fifth-best throw in the country. Hoffman's performance is ranked 16th.
Barber ran away from the field in the hurdles, running 8.42, just one hundredth of a second under the NCAA provisional standard. Barber's season-best 8.32 from earlier this season is currently the 11th-best mark in the NCAA. Hunter completed the Penn State 1-2 finish, taking runner up honors in 8.54 - a personal-best in the event. The junior also managed an event win in the long jump with a leap of 19-11 (6.07), which ties her season best. Hunter would lead a Nittany Lion sweep in the event, as Lena Bettis (Riverside, Calif.), and freshman Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) wound up second and third, with marks of 19-5.25 (5.92), and 19-2.75 (5.86), respectively.
Jules clocked a season-low 8.02 to win the men's race and add another 10 points to the Lion total.
The men's DMR gave an outstanding performance in front of the home crowd with freshman Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.) leading off on the 1200-meter leg. Dawson held the Lions in good position in a tightly packed race before handing off to classmate Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) on the 400-meters. Williams put on a flurrying kick to move the Lions to second before handing off to freshman Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) on the 800-meters. Borchers promptly took over the lead and never looked back, giving anchor Tim Johnson (New Cumblerland, Pa.) a comfortable advantage going into the 1600-meter closer. Johnson easily held onto the lead and finished off the Lions' winning 9:59.99 effort - Penn State's second-fastest time all season.
Action continues tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., at Ashenfelter Indoor Track. Penn State will also honor its senior class at 11.