March 9, 2008
Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame Results | Virginia Tech Last Chance Results
BLACKSBURG, Va./South Bend, Ind. -
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With squads split between two separate competitions, several Nittany Lion athletes made the best of their opportunity to improve their season-best performances, competing at Last Chance meets at Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. Highlighting the days results were Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.) and Ryan Taylor (Spanish Town, Jamaica), who both posted outstanding triple jump marks at Virginia Tech, and Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.), who managed to better the provisional mile standard at Notre Dame.
Smith took top honors at the Blacksburg event with a career-best 51-08.25 (15.75), with Taylor following in second - just an inch behind his teammate - in a personal-record 51-07.25 (15.73m). The Nittany Lion duo is now ranked 21st and 22nd in the NCAA and will have to wait until Monday evening when the accepted entries for the NCAA Championships are scheduled to be released.
Other Lion finishes in Blacksburg included a second-place tie from Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) in the high jump (6-9/2.06m), a third-place effort from Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa.) in the weight throw (65-06/19.96m), and a fifth-place finish from Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) in the shot put (48-05.25/14.76m), while Lena Bettis (Riverside, Calif.) took sixth in the long jump (19-00/5.79m), and Ron Jules place seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (7.99/8.03).
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Rosenfeld shaved nearly four seconds off her previous best to run an impressive PR and provisional-qualifying 4:45.46 to finish 11th in an outstanding field in South Bend. Senior Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.) also dipped under the provisional standard with a time of 2:08.21, finishing ninth in the 800-meters, while Mark Miller (Shillington, Pa.) placed fourth in the 800 with a provisional 1:49.87.
The Lions will now travel to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Action is scheduled to get underway on Friday, March 14.