May 17, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.: May 17, 2008 - Highlighted by a victory from sophomore Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), the Nittany Lion track and field team completed the second day of action at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, Saturday at the University of Illinois. At the conclusion of the day's events, the Nittany Lion women stand in a three-way tie for second with 36 points, while the Penn State men are in eighth place with 15 points. Both squads were bolstered by impressive efforts from the Nittany Lion multi-event athletes with Shawn Colligan (Bradford, Pa.) posting a second-place finish in the men's decathlon, and junior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) placing third in the women's heptathlon.
"Our women's team had an outstanding day to position themselves for a continued battle for a Big Ten title," said Director of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "Gayle, Bridget, Aleesha (Barber) continue to give their all for their teammates and their program. We are set up for results in every single event tomorrow, and will be in a battle with Michigan and Minnesota and home team Illini."
Franek left no room for doubt in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, distancing herself from the field from the gun, and cruising to victory in 9:58.56 - more than 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Franek's mark, which is the second fastest in the NCAA and the 10th by an American in 2008, is also a new school record in the event, bettering her own 9:59.21 from last spring. Teammates Claire Percival (Sarnia, Ontario) and Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas) also posted scoring efforts on the evening, running 10:33.53 and 10:34.25 to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
Colligan made good on his final-career appearance at the Big Ten Championships, finishing second in the decathlon with a personal-best tally of 7361, tacking over 300 points onto his previous best. Colligan also made his second-straight trip to the medal stand after placing third in the competition in 2007. Morrisey posted a PR 7097 to finish fourth. Colligan's PR day included career-best marks in pole vault, javelin, and 1500-meters. After launching a career-long and regional-qualifying 206-02 (62.83) in the javelin, Colligan finished off his career day, running 4:39.36.
"Shawn's performance in the decathlon represents the true tenacity of our Penn State team," commented Sullivan. "We'll have our work cut out for us but we are still in the hunt for a top five finish, and I'm excited to see the outcome of this team this weekend as it develops into championship caliber program."
Hunter notched an outstanding effort on the second day of the women's heptathlon, scoring an NCAA automatic total of 5558 points to finish third in the event for the second-straight year. Hunter was solid all morning, starting the day with a leap of 19-11.50 (6.08) in the long jump - the third-farthest mark in the competition - and followed up with a PR 126-05 (38.53) in the javelin throw - a career best by over two meters. Needing to better Iowa's Tammilee Kerr by over three seconds in the 800-meters in order to take bronze medal honors, Hunter took the lead from the gun to earn the wire-to-wire victory in the event in 2:23.05, beating Kerr by just over four seconds and solidifying her position on the medal stand. Hunter wasn't done, however, advancing through the preliminaries of both the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meters, and scoring a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a wind-legal PR of 20-08 (6.30).
Hunter will be one of a quartet of Lions through to tomorrow's 200 final, along with Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.), Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.), and Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.). Cox posted the top mark in qualifying with a mark of 23.52. Blake and Cox provided the top two times in the 400-meter preliminaries with Blake going 52.78, and Cox recording a mark of 53.13. Another event with a whole pack of Lions making the final round was the 400-meter hurdles, led by Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) with a season-best 58.96. Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) and Megan Duncan (North Huntington, Pa.) will also live to see another day, clocking times of 59.55, and 59.64, respectively. Barber was hot all afternoon, running a lifetime-low and regional-qualifying 11.63 in her first try at the 100-meters this season, and registering a wind-aided 13.19 in the 100-meter hurdles - the top time of day. Hunter recorded a PB 13.49, also advancing in the event.
Freshman Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) also provided a bronze-medal finish, managing a toss of 169-09 (51.75). Classmate Kim Hanslovan (Luthersburg, Pa.) followed in fifth with a throw of 158-00 (48.15) - a huge personal best - while Heidi Nadeau (North Hampton, N.H.) finished off the scoring with a seventh-place finish at 153-09 (46.87).
Also advancing on the track was the women's 4x100, including Greaves, Cox, Barber, and Blake, Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.) in the 800-meters, and Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.) in the 1500-meters. Moving on to the finals on the men's side were Andrew Cope (Danville, Pa.) in the 100-meters, Mark Miller (Shillington, Pa.) and Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) in the 800, Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) in the 1500, and Ron Jules (Tom's River, N.J.) in the 110-meter hurdles. The Lions also got some sensational performances in the field, including a wind-aided 24-04.25 (7.41) long jump effort from Ryan Taylor (Spanish Town, Jamaica), who would finish seventh in the competition, and Cory Eck (State College, Pa.), who popped a 160-09 (48.99) PR to finish ninth in the discus, just one spot shy of a scoring performance.
The final day of action picks up tomorrow morning with the women's triple jump and women's discus throw getting things started at 11 a.m. CT. The meet is scheduled to conclude at 3:45 p.m. CT with the men's 4x400-meter relay.