Aug. 4, 2010
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Penn State women's track and field team has been recognized as the Women's Outdoor Scholar Team of the Year, announced by the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday. The distinction is given to the highest-placing program at the NCAA Championships with at least a 3.00 GPA. The Nittany Lions placed fourth in the team standings at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships - tying the program's best-ever finish - and carried a 3.0 GPA for the semester. Tennessee captured the honor for the indoor season following a second-place finish.
"What an honor to be named the Outdoor Scholar Team of the Year," said Director and Head Coach of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "It puts a great cap on a historic year, and a historic Penn State team. It is also a great honor to share with an accomplished program like Tennessee, and it reinforces the standard of excellence in athletics and academics set forth by Penn State University and our entire athletic department."
Penn State claimed its second trophy finish (top four) in the last three years, thanks to a 34-point haul at Historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in June. Topping the medal stand was senior Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), who ran away with her first-career NCAA title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a finishing time of 9:38.86 - 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Franek was also recognized by USTFCCCA for her outstanding individual academic standing last week, along with teammates Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.), Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.), Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.), and Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas). To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either the NCAA Division I Indoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard or participated in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships (including preliminary rounds) in their respective event.
Barber also played a key role in the Lions' outdoor success, adding a third-place effort in the 100-meter hurdles and leading off the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay, along with teammates Shavon Greaves (Akron, N.Y.), Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), and Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.). All told, the Nittany Lion women came away from the Championships with a total of nine All-America certificates, including a third-place standing by junior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) in the javelin, a fourth-place finish from Dorr in the 400-meter hurdles, and a seventh-place effort from Greaves in the 200-meters.
The Nittany Lions were outstanding at the conference level as well as amongst NCAA competition in 2009-10, capturing Big Ten titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, to earn the program's first-ever "Triple Crown." The Lions also turned in three stellar finishes on the NCAA stage, placing 14th in cross country, and 13th in indoor track and field, before finishing fourth outdoors. Earlier this year, the Nittany Lions finished third in the Terry Crawford Program of the Year Standings, which recognize the most outstanding NCAA Division I women's cross country/track & field programs.