April 8, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After traveling across the country to the Jim Click Shootout at the University of Arizona, the Nittany Lion track and field teams will make to short trip down Route 45 to the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell University. The Nittany Lions - who recorded 14 NCAA qualifying marks last weekend - have excelled in their past appearances in Lewisburg, as current and former Penn State athletes hold 12 Christy Mathewson Stadium records, and will be looking to add more NCAA regional qualifiers to an already lengthy list. Along with Penn State, the competition will play host to numerous teams including Bucknell, Pittsburgh, Cornell, Maryland, Binghamton, Lehigh, and St. Francis (Pa.).
Opening up in her signature event - the 3,000-meter steeplechase - will be junior Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), who is coming off of a bronze-medal finish at the NCAA Championships last year. Joining Franek in the steeple will be classmate Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas), a 2008 NCAA regional qualifier and third-place finisher at the Jim Click Shootout. On the men's side, seniors Mike Syrnick (Philadelphia) and John Mahoney (Richboro, Pa.) will also open up in the event, after showing a lot of steeple promise in 2008.
The Nittany Lions also have several athletes poised for outstanding performances in the middle distances, including Big Ten 800 Champion Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), and provisional qualifiers Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.). Elsewhere, standout milers Tim Johnson (New Cumberland, Pa.) and Vince McNally (Smoketown, Pa.) will look for solid results from the invitational section of the 1500-meters, as will freshman Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) on the women's side. Johnson recorded a fourth-place finish in the 1500 last weekend, while Lane was fourth in the 800 and fifth in the 1500.
Mike Cadau |
In the sprints, sophomore Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.) tallied a pair of regional performances last weekend, posting NCAA marks in both the 100- and 200-meters and will look to look to add a third regional qualifier to her resume, as she will run the 400-meters this weekend. Junior Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) will also take on the 400 field, after winning the event last weekend. Dorr, who was an NCAA participant in the quarter mile indoors, will also run the 400-meter hurdles. Dorr made the NCAA field in the quarter hurdles in 2008 and will be looking to repeat in 2009.
Senior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) - who posted an NCAA automatic score in the heptathlon last weekend - will focus on individual events at Bucknell as she is set to compete in the 200-meters, 100-meter hurdles and high jump. Junior Mike Cadau (Mahanoy City, Pa.) will lead the Lions in the men's sprints after finishing second in an outstanding 400 field last weekend.
Seniors Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) and Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.) will head the Lion effort in the field events, both already having regional qualifiers under their belts as Fritz has cleared the standard in the high jump, and Smith has bettered the NCAA mark in the triple jump. Sophomore Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) will lead the women's jumpers after a third place effort in the long jump last weekend.
In the throws, sophomore Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) will look to build on his regional mark in the shot put last week, while Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.), who hit the regional discus standard in a winning effort at Jim Click, will aim for NCAA marks in the shot and hammer this weekend. Frank Duca (Middletown, N.J.) and Adam Thielemann (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) are also set to compete this weekend, after recording top five finishes at Jim Click. Duca took fourth in the hammer, while Thielemann posted a fourth-place finish in the discus.
Log onto www.gopsusports.com for full results and Nittany Lion recap following the competition.
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