GREENSBORO, N.C. - Battling jump-for-jump with some of the nation's best long jumpers, sophomore Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) and senior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, Friday at the NCAA East Regional Championships, on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University. On the track, Nittany Lions Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.), Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.), Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.), Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), and Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) all successfully navigated their way through Friday's preliminary round of their respective events, and will vie for spot at the NCAA Championships during Saturday's finals.
Fung, who entered the competition as the ninth seed, will make her first career appearance at the national championships after sailing to a personal-best 20-10.50 (6.36), finishing third and upending many of the region's top competitors. Hunter jumped an identical 20-10.50 (6.36) - just six centimeters off her season best - to finish fourth overall and advance to NCAAs in the event for the second-straight year.
Fung and Hunter's three-four finish paced the Lions to a 13-point total on day one - good for fourth place after five events. Virginia Tech leads with 26, followed by Florida with 19, and William and Mary with 16. Penn State is currently locked in a four-way tie for fourth along with Villanova, Florida State, and West Virginia.
Greaves will advance in both the 100- and 200-meters, thanks to a heat win in the 100, and a time qualifier in the 200. Greaves clocked 11.53 to win her 100 heat, running the fifth-fastest time of the afternoon. In the 200, the sophomore crossed the line in 23.60 - the third-quickest effort of the day. Barber would also advance, running a season-best 13.41 to finish second in her heat and move on to the final with the sixth-best mark in qualifying. Dorr would also scurry to a heat win, posting the third-fastest time in qualifying at 58.22. All four athletes will need to finish in the top five in tomorrow's finals to earn an automatic-qualifying spot.
Sophomore Williams clocked a career-best 1:48.99 in the opening round of the 800-meters, finishing third in his heat and advancing with the third-fastest mark of the day. Foster laid down an outstanding last 200-meters in the fifth and final preliminary heat, finishing in 1:49.18 and claiming the final spot in Saturday's final.
In other final round action, senior Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.) placed just outside of automatic-qualifying status, finishing seventh in the discus with a toss of 159-03 (48.53). Junior Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) also found himself just outside of a national-qualifying berth, finishing eighth in the high jump with a clearance of 6-10.25 (2.09). Although neither Lion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, they will both remain in contention for an at-large spot via their top 12 finish.
Action continues tomorrow morning, beginning with the women's javelin competition at 11 a.m. Check www.GoPSUsports.com for results and complete Nittany Lion recaps following the day's competition.