UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.: January 7, 2009 -The Nittany Lion track and field teams will kick into high gear this weekend, hosting the first competition on their 2009 indoor slate with the Penn State Relays on Saturday. Action gets under at 10 a.m., at Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Track, with squads from Bethune-Cookman, Duquesne, Lehigh, Lock Haven, St. Francis (Pa.), St. Joseph's, Rider, and Villanova scheduled to attend.
About the Meet:
PennStatewill host the Penn State Relays for the fifth-consecutive year, featuring all field events, individual track races, as well as several rarely contested relay events, such as the 4xMile and Sprint Medley relays.
Results:
LIVE results will be available at www.gopsusports.com. Full recaps and results will be available following the day's competition.
Nittany Lions to Watch:
Several of the Nittany Lion stars will look to get their seasons off to a roaring start on Saturday, including senior jumpers Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.), and Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.). Hunter - the Lions' top pentathlete - will look to pick up where she left off last year, finishing the 2008 season with a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, to go along with a gold-medal performance in the 4x400-meter relay - the first NCAA Champion relay in women's program history. Smith was also hot at the close of 2008, finishing with All-America status in the NCAA triple jump. Smith has already proved he's one to watch this winter, posting a would-be NCAA provisional mark of 52-06.50 (16.01) at the Blue/White Meet last month.
| Shavon Greaves |
Hunter is also one of the Nittany Lions top sprinters, along with sophomore standout Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.). Greaves was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year following the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Championships, thanks to a bronze-medal finish in the 60-meter dash. Greaves is also the Penn State record holder at 55-meters.
In the throws, the Nittany Lions will be led by senior Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) - an NCAA qualifier in 2008 - as well as sophomores Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.) and Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) on the men's side.
Although many of the Lion distance athletes will take the weekend off before opening their 2009 campaigns, sophomore sensation Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) - already a two-time Penn State record holder - will make his 2009 debut in the distance relays, as will junior and NCAA provisional qualifier Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.).
The Lions will host a slew of indoor competitions this season, continuing with the Penn State Open on Saturday, Jan. 17.