May 17, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio: May 16, 2009 - Senior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) set a new school record on her way to a third-place finish in the heptathlon, Saturday at the Big Ten Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Along with Hunter, several Nittany Lions managed to ascend the awards podium, including Karlee McQuillen and Kim Hanslovan (DuBois, Pa.) who provided a two-three finish in the women's javelin final, as well as steeplechase silver medalist Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio).
Hunter's seven event total of 5730 bettered her own school standard of 5711 from 2007, and was good for bronze-medal honors in an outstanding field. On her way to the record total, the senior would post a season-best 21-0.75 (6.42) in the long jump - which is among the top 10 performances in the country this season.
McQuillen uncorked a season-best 175-11 (53.62) on her final attempt in the javelin, finishing second overall - the highest conference finish of her young career. Hanslovan also had a solid outing, scoring a third-place finish with a toss of 159-03 (48.55) - also the best conference performance in her two years as a Nittany Lion. Freshman Mattie Pancoast (West Chester, Pa.) would also record a scoring performance, finishing eighth overall.
Franek, locked a dual with Michigan State's Nicole Bush in the steeplechase, claimed silver medal honors, finishing in 9:58.27. Franek has been a mainstay on the conference podium in the event, finishing first in 2008 and third in 2007.
With eight events scored, the Nittany Lion women are in contention to defend their 2008 team championship, standing solidly in second place with 47 points. Minnesota leads with 54 points, followed by Indiana (45 pts) in third, Purdue (42 pts) in fourth, and always dangerous Michigan (36 pts) in fifth.
Also providing scoring finishes on Saturday were Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.), who followed up a second-place effort in the hammer on Friday with a fourth-place finish in the shot put, thanks to a PR toss of 50-03.50 (15.33), and Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.), who tallied a sixth-place finish in the long jump.
The Lions are in healthy standing for tomorrow's finals as Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.) advanced to the 100-meter final, Greaves and Hunter moved onto the 200-meter final, and Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) qualified for the 400-meter final. In the hurdles, Hunter and Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) would advance in the 100-meter hurdles, while Dorr and Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) made their way back to the final in the 400-meter hurdles.
Action continues on the final day of the conference championships on Sunday, beginning with the men's pole vault at 10:30 a.m.