Feb. 4, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In their final home appearance of the regular season, the Nittany Lion track and field squads will take on an outstanding field at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, set for Friday and Saturday at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Both Penn State teams are currently among the top 15 teams nationally, with the Nittany Lion women ranked No. 8, and the men appearing for the first time this season at No. 14. The Nittany Lions are scheduled to welcome a host of talented programs from around the country, including Auburn Tigers, who are ranked 17th on the women's side, and 20th in the men's standings.
The meet is scheduled to get underway on Friday, beginning with the women's pentathlon at 12 p.m. The rest of the Friday evening events are set for 5:30 p.m., while the Saturday slate will begin at 11 a.m. The Nittany Lions will also recognize its 2010 Senior Class prior to competition on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Competing Teams
Auburn
Buffalo
Coastal Carolina
Cornell
East Carolina
James Madison (W)
Liberty
Lock Haven
Monmouth
Penn State
Princeton
South Florida
Tulane (W)
UNC-Wilmington
West Virginia (W)
The Lions have been on a roll all season, bolstered by a quartet of NCAA automatic qualifiers at the Penn State National last weekend. Junior Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.) led the charge with a school-record 7.24 in the 60-meters, and followed up with a facility record and personal-best 23.16. Both Greaves' performances are the second-fastest in NCAA Division I this season. Also guaranteeing themselves a spot at indoor nationals were 800-meter duo Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) and Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.), who clocked 1:47.48, and 1:47.98, respectively, in the half mile and now stand first and second on the collegiate descending order list. In the field, junior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) launched a career-best and auto-qualifying 63-6.25 (19.36) in the shot put - the second-best throw in school history - to move to third nationally.
One of the most high-powered event areas in the competition will be the sprints and relays, with Greaves and senior Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) leading the charge for the Nittany Lion women. Dorr, who is currently ranked fourth in the NCAA 400-meters, and Greaves, who has a provisional qualifier in the 400 under her belt, will take on a talented field in the quarter mile, including NCAA Outodor Champion Joanna Atkins of Auburn. On the men's side, the Tigers will also travel sophomore Marcus Rowland, who is currently ranked first in the NCAA 60-meters at 6.61.
Kovacs will be joined teammate and fellow NCAA qualifier Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.), who recorded a toss of 60-1 (18.31) in the shot put a week ago. The duo will be challenged by a host of talented competitors from Buffalo and Princeton.
Following the Challenge Cup, the Nittany Lions will split their squads between the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas, and the Husky Invitational at the University of Washington. Both competitions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, February 12-13.