March 1, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.: March 1, 2009 - Thanks to an impressive second-day surge, the No. 7 ranked Nittany Lion women's track and field posted an impressive second-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships, Saturday at the University of Indiana. The Nittany Lions were paced by a victory from Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) in the 400-meters and duel wins from sophomore Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.) in the 60 and 200-meters. Also topping the awards stand was the women's 4x400-meter relay, including Dorr, Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.), Greaves, and Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.). The relay win was the fourth straight indoor victory for the Nittany Lion women, who have won every conference 4x400 - indoor and outdoor - since 2006.
Along with the event winners, the Lions recorded an impressive haul of top three finishes, including second-place efforts from Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) in the 20-pound weight throw, and Barber in the 200 and 60-meter hurdles, and a bronze-medal finish from Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio) in the 5,000-meters to go along with Hunter's silver medal showing in the pentathlon on Saturday.
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The Lions narrowly missed a spot atop the team standings, finishing with 125 points - just four points behind champion Minnesota with 129. Michigan was just behind in third with 121.5.
"The women's meet shaped up to be an amazing weekend of competition between seasoned rivals Penn State, Minnesota, and Michigan," said Director and Head Coach of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "It was a battle from start to finish, and it is difficult to lose by such a small margin, but I am very proud of the performance and character of the women's team."
Greaves - the 2008 Big Ten Freshman of the Year - continued to excel in conference competition as a sophomore, clocking 7.44 to win the 60, and 23.96 to take the 200. Greaves is now one of only four Nittany Lion women to win two individual events during the Big Ten indoor meet, joining Penn State greats Connie Moore (60 and 200, 2004), Jen Leatherman (shot put and weight throw, 2005, 2006), and Shana Cox (200 and 400, 2008). The 200 was one of the Lions strongest events of the afternoon, as Barber finished second in 23.97, and Dorr took fifth in 24.47.
Dorr coasted to her first individual conference title in the 400, finishing in 54.10 - over half a second ahead of the second-place finisher. The 4x400 also cruised to victory, winning in 3:39.43.
"I am extremely impressed with the leadership from Associate Head Coach Chris Johnson and the entire staff that traveled to the women's meet," said Sullivan. "We had outstanding efforts from our women's program, led by a strong contingency across the board in all event area. The women continue to achieve a great deal of success as a balanced program. We'll regroup from the weekend and get ready for the NCAA Championships.
Schmelzer - who finished fifth in the shot put on Saturday - capped an outstanding weekend with a silver-medal finish in the weight throw, posting a personal-best toss of 60-1 (18.31).
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Franek continued her stellar season in the distances, holding her own in arguably the best distance conference in the country. The junior clocked an NCAA automatic-qualifying 15:58.76 in the 5K, scoring her second bronze-medal finish of the weekend. Teammate Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas) also had a hand in the scoring effort, finishing in 16:39.56 for seventh place. Also in the distances, freshman Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) recorded her first-career scoring performance, finishing eighth in the mile run with a time of 4:50.77.
Hunter would take fourth in her first triple jump appearance of 2009, going 41-5.25 (12.63) - just off NCAA qualifying status. Teammate Gabriela Baiter (Greenlawn, N.Y.) followed up with a season-best 40-3.25 (12.27), good for seventh place on the day. Elsewhere in the jumps, junior Brittany Maun (Greenville, Pa.) recorded a fifth-place finish in the high jump, clearing a personal indoor best 5-8.75 (1.75).
After attending last chance meets at Notre Dame and Virginia Tech next weekend, the Nittany Lions will head to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 14-15 in College Station, Texas.