June 22, 2010
DES MOINES, Iowa: June 22, 2010 - Just over a week removed from an outstanding showing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Nittany Lion track and field teams will be in action again this week at the USATF Senior and Junior Outdoor Championships. The event, which will feature top talent from the prep, collegiate, and professional ranks, is set for June 23-27, at Drake Stadium. Penn State will field an impressive contingent of athletes across the board including rising sophomores in the junior ranks, current collegiate standouts in the senior fields, as well as several Penn State alumni and current standouts on the professional circuit. The Nittany Lions enjoyed sensational success during their last appearance in Des Moines, winning a pair of NCAA titles at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
About the Meet:
USATF Senior and Junior Championships
When: June 23-27, 2010
Where: Drake Stadium (Des Moines, Iowa)
Meet Coverage: Flotrack.org
TV Schedule (All Times Eastern):
ESPN, June 25 8:00-10:00 pm
ESPN, June 26 1:00-2:30 pm
NBC, June 26 3:00-4:00 pm
ESPN, June 27 1:00-2:30 pm
NBC, June 27 3:00-4:00 pm
Nittany Lions in the Junior Championships
The Nittany Lions will travel a quintet of talented junior athletes (under 20) to Des Moines, including NCAA qualifiers Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.), Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas), and Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.). Also making the trip to Drake will be rising sophomores Nicole Lord (Media, Pa.), and Brooklyne Ridder (Cincinnati, Ohio), who were both members of the Lions' Big Ten Cross Country Championship team in 2009. The USATF Junior Championships will also serve as the platform to qualify for the IAAF World Junior Championships, set for July 19-25, in Moncton, Canada. The top two finishers in each event will earn bids to the IAAF competition, provided they have achieved the world-junior qualifying standard.
Loxsom is the number-two ranked junior at 800-meters, boasting a PR 1:46.74 from earlier in the outdoor season. Loxsom advanced to both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships this year, placing 15th indoors and 17th outdoors. Loxsom, who just completed his freshman campaign with the Nittany Lions, owns not only the second-fastest time by a U.S. junior, but the second-best effort in the world this year, trailing only Virginia's Robby Andrews at 1:45.54. Loxsom was highly successful throughout the 2010 seasons, winning the Big Ten title in the 800 outdoors, while earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year honors.
Britton also owns one of the top seeds going into the meet with a career-best 57.61 in the 400-meter hurdles, which is the top mark among entrants in the junior event. Britton recently placed 23rd in the quarter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as one of just five freshman in the field. The rising sophomore will also compete in the 100-meter hurdles, where she owns a personal best of 13.65 - the sixth-fastest time among junior competitors, as well as the fourth-best mark in the PSU record books.
Anyanwu has also enjoyed an outstanding freshman campaign in the sprints, recently earning All-America honors as a member of the Lions' fourth-place 4x400-meter relay at the NCAA meet. Anyanwu was also a member of two Big Ten Championship relays over the course of the season, running on winning 4x400s at both the indoor and outdoor conference championships. Individually, Anyanwu clocked a PR 54.25 for 400-meters at the Big Ten Championships, which was good for fifth place in the conference. The Beltsville, Md., native, who was an NCAA First Round qualifier in the 400 outdoors, will race the quarter mile this week, where is ranked 11th.
Lord and Ridder - both NCAA First Round qualifiers - will represent the Lions in the distances, with Lord running the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Ridder competing in the 5,000-meters. Lord is finishing off an outstanding freshman year, which including Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in cross country, as well as a fifth-place effort in the steeple at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Lord's 10:26.41 PR is the second-best mark at the distance in the U.S. Ridder posted a career-best 16:39.25 for the 5K at Penn Relays, and is currently rated fourth among junior entrants.
Nittany Lions in the Senior Championships
Headlining the Nittany Lion contingent in the senior events is recently crowned NCAA Steeplechase Champion Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio). Franek, who recently completed her Penn State career on the NCAA stage, is the current U.S. leader in the steeplechase at 9:38.86. Franek has experience stellar success at the USATF Championships in the past, placing third in the steeplechase a year ago to qualifying for the 2009 IAAF World Championships. Franek's NCAA victory was just the third individual victory by a Nitttany Lion woman in the NCAA era, following Deshaya Williams in the discus in 2003, and Shana Cox in the 400-meters in 2008. The 2010 PSU graduate ended her career as a 10-time NCAA All-American - the fourth-highest total in Penn State history - and four-time Big Ten Champion.
Also competing at the USATF Championships after her final NCAA appearance will be Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.), who will take on the field in the 400-meter hurdles. Dorr, a USATF semi-finalist a year ago, recently added two more All-America certificates to her resume, thanks to a fourth-place finish in the quarter hurdles, as well as a fourth-place standing as a member of the 4x400. Dorr, who completed her Nittany Lion career as a seven-time NCAA All-American, is ranked fifth among entrants at the USATF meet at 55.57, which also stands as the Penn State record. Dorr will be joined by teammate Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) in the hurdles, after a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Duncan, who owns a personal-best 57.55, is the 16th-fastest entrant in the USATF ranks.
Throwers Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.) and Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) are set to compete in the shot put, with both athletes boasting marks that rank among the top 15 performances in the U.S. this year. The Big Ten Champion in the event, Eaton is coming off a PR 64-2.50 (19.57), which was good for third-place overall at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and ranks 11th among USATF entries. Kovacs, who claimed NCAA bronze-medal honors indoors, owns a personal-best 63-5.25 (19.36) from the indoor season.
Rising senior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) will compete in the javelin, coming off a season-best toss of 171-2 (52.17), which was good for bronze-medal honors at the NCAA meet. McQuillen's performance is ranked ninth going into the weekend. McQuillen is no stranger to USATF success, as she placed first at the Junior Championships as a freshman in 2008, qualifying for the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where she placed 14th overall.
Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) will also represent the Lions in the field events, following a fourth-place finish in the high jump at the NCAA Championships. Fritz earned a total of four All-America finishes over the course of his Nittany Lion career, and enters the weekend's competition with a season-best clearance of 7-2.50 (2.20). Fritz was also a standout on the junior scene, placing second at the 2006 Junior Championships to secure a spot on the U.S. at the World Junior Championships in Beijing, China.
2010 Indoor All-American Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.) will take on the field in the 800-meters, with a personal-best 1:47.77. Dawson captured eighth place in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
A pair of Penn State alumni are also set to compete in the sprints with 2008-graduate Shana Cox entered in the 400, and 2004-alumnus Connie Moore registered in the 100- and 200-meters. Cox, who runs for Adidas, is currently ranked sixth in the quarter at 51.42 run at the Florida Relays in April. Cox set the American Record at 500-meters during the 2010 indoor campaign, going 1:08.70. Moore, who still holds Penn State record in the 100 and 200, is entered with season bests of 11.34 in the 100, and 23.12 in the 200. Moore will compete unattached.
Action in Des Moines is set to begin with the multi-events on Wednesday, and concludes on Sunday afternoon. Log on to www.GoPSUsports.com for Nittany Lion updates throughout the competition.