April 28, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.: April 28, 2010 - Coming off outstanding performances at the Penn Relays last weekend, freshman Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.) and junior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) have been named Big Ten Athletes of the Week. Loxsom clocked the fastest split among entrants in the men's 4x800-meter relay, while McQuillen took top honors in the women's javelin competition, last weekend in Philadelphia.
Loxsom turned in a 1:46.58 readout on the second leg of the 4x800 - the fastest effort of the afternoon, as one of only two athletes to record a sub-1:47 split during the race. Loxsom was joined by teammates junior Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.), junior Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) and junior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) in finishing third overall in the race with a season-best effort of 7:17.02 - the fourth-fastest performance in school history. Individually, Loxsom has run 1:48.41 in the open 800-meters already this season, which is the best in the Big Ten during the outdoor campaign.
Following Big Ten Athlete of the Week performances by Foster, and shot putter Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) earlier this month, Loxsom is the third Nittany Lion on the men's squad to earn Big Ten honors this year.
After placing second for the past two years, McQuillen turned in a gold-medal effort over a national-class field. McQuillen, who was also a Penn Relays Champion as a high schooler, earned the 12th individual Penn Relays victory in the history of the Nittany Lion women's program. McQuillen posted one of the more consistent series of her 2010 campaign, recording a winning effort of 162-7 (49.57). McQuillen in the third Nittany Lion woman to win the javelin competition at Penn, along with Marilyn Senz in 1983 and Brianne Johnson in 2001.
McQuillen is the second Nittany Lion to earn conference honors on the women's side this year, with teammate Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.) earning a Big Ten citation on April 7.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action this weekend, splitting its squads between the Jesse Owens Invitational at Ohio State on April 30 and May 1, and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford on May 1.