April 5, 2008
EUGENE, Ore. - A cold and rainy Oregon afternoon failed to deter the Penn State track and field squad from a successful opening weekend on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions racked up a total of 18 NCAA regional-qualifying marks and over a half dozen event champions at the Pepsi Team Challenge in front of over 5,000 fans at historic Hayward Field. The Lions also fared well in the team standings with the men turning in an impressive second-place effort, and the women finishing third - just over 10 points shy of a victory.. Saturday's competition will be the first of two appearances in Tracktown for many of the Lions, as Eugene will also play host to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials this Summer.
"It was an exciting and dynamic meet that the University of Oregon produced," said Director of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "The men's and women's teams did an excellent job of representing Penn State in a competition of great quality in a great competitive atmosphere."
Minnesota won the women's competition with a total of 193 points, narrowly nosing host Oregon with 192. Penn State was third with 181, while Washington took fourth with 78. Oregon took top honors on the men's side with 230 points, followed by Penn State (150), Minnesota (140.5), and Washington (125.5).
"The women gave it a valiant effort with winning six event wins but we had to take it on the chin taking third by just a few points," continued Sullivan. "After finishing third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, another third-place finish will certainly motivate us to go after the win come championship time."
"It's a huge accomplishment for the men's program to rise to the occasion and finish second in such an outstanding field," said Sullivan. "Picking up 18 regional marks on a cold and windy day shows that both of our teams will be poised and ready to go when championship season hits."
The Lions would hit their stride on the track midway through the afternoon, winning three-straight events on the women's side. Redshirt sophomore Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) got the ball rolling with a decisive win in the 100-meter hurdles. Barber clocked a regional-qualifying 13.69 in the victory, bettering the rest of the field by over half a second.
Senior Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) would follow Barber's win with a victory in the 400-meters. Cox, who will return to Eugene in June in hopes of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, broke the tape at 53.30, well under the regional standard, to earn the victory lap, with teammate and fellow All-American Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.) grabbed third place overall with a 54.57 finish, also under the regional mark.
Freshman Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.) lengthened the Lions winning streak to three in-a-row with a runaway victory in the 100-meters. Greaves finished in 11.80, just shy of the NCAA standard, with classmate Caitlin Defusco (Schwenksville, Pa.) dipping under the 12-second barrier for second with a finishing time of 11.99. The Lions would record a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200-meters, with Cox leading the way in 23.73 for her second victory of the day. Greaves and DeFusco followed in second and third with marks of 24.37, and 24.71, respectively.
Freshman Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) excited the Hayward Field faithful with an outstanding finishing kick to earn the victory in the 800-meters, bettering the NCAA standard with a PR 1:49.94. Borchers led a trio of Lions with top five finishes in the event, with senior Mark Miller (Shillington, Pa.) taking fourth in 1:50.87, and freshman Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) turning in a fifth-place effort in 1:51.17. Williams and Miller would come back to run on the second-place 4x400, running 3:12.76, along with teammates Mike Cadau (Mahanoy City, Pa.) and Ron Jules (Tom's River, N.J.).
Barber would take her second victory lap of the day after an electrifying win in the 400-meter hurdles. With Oregon's Kasey Harwood looking like the clear winner coming down the homestretch, Barber zipped off the last hurdle to nose Harwood 1:00.02 to 1:00.09. Freshman Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) was also solid in her collegiate debut in the event, finishing third in 1:00.50, also a regional mark.
Cox and Barber both earned their third win of the day in the 4x400-meters, combining Duncan and Blake to run a regional-qualifying 3:37.52. Duncan led off with a 56.4 readout, with Barber running second with a split of 54.3, handing off to Cox with the Ducks out in the lead. Cox retook the lead, splitting a smoking 52.3, before Blake closed up the win, running 54.2.
The Penn State javelin crew was outstanding in their 2008 opener with the Lions claiming two of the top five spots in both the men's and women's competitions. Freshman Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) launched a lifetime-best 164-03 (50.07m) for third place, while senior Heidi Nadeau (North Hampton, N.H.) wound up fifth with a toss of 144-2 (43.95m). Junior Tanner Evak (State College, Pa.) took runner-up honors on the men's side with a throw of 218-10 (66.70), followed by Harold Dunn (Butler, Pa.), who marked a PR 206-08 (63.00), in third. All four Lions put regional marks on the board.
Another three regional performances would come out of the throws group, led by a winning toss of 48-00.50 (14.64) from Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) in the shot put. Also posting NCAA marks were Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.), who finished second in the shot put with a throw of 55-06.25 (16.92m), and Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa.), who came in fifth in the hammer with a mark of 193-01 (58.86m).
Also turning in a victory in the field was junior Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.) in the triple jump. Smith, the Big Ten Indoor Champion in the event, soared to a regional-qualifying 49-11 (15.21) for gold medal honors. Teammate Jay Pagana (Selinsgrove, Pa.) nabbed runner-up honors with a jump of 49-2.25 (14.99), just half an inch shy of NCAA regional status.
The Lions also got three more NCAA marks in the distance events, including solid efforts from Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), and Claire Percival (Sarnia, Ontario) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.) in the 1500-meters. Franek placed second with a time of 10:12.27, with Percival following in fourth in 10:45.42. Rosenfeld posted her first-career regional qualifier with a PR 4:26.10 to finish fifth overall.
The Lions will take another flight to the West Coast next weekend, traveling to the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Action begins on Friday, April 11.