Nov. 4, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a team vote, the Nittany Lion track and field squads have announced their captains for the 2010-11 seasons, with seniors Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.), and Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.), along with redshirt-junior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) set to represent the men's team, while seniors Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.) and Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.), and junior Anna Muzio (Harrisburg, Pa.) will head up the team on the women's side. Foster will be in his second stint as a men's team captain after being selected in 2009-10, while the other six Nittany Lions have earned the honor for the first time.
"I'm exciting for the leadership that the team voted in as our 2011 team captains," said Director and Head Coach of Track and Field/Cross Country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "This year's captains are a great representation of young people that have had outstanding success and also have great leadership skills. I look forward to working with this group during the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons."
All four men's team captains earned NCAA All-America honors a year ago, with Eaton, Foster, and Kovacs each earning NCAA bronze-medal standing over the course of the 2010 campaign. Eaton won a pair of All-America certificates last year, claiming eighth in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and improving to a third-place finish in the event outdoors. The then-junior was also the Big Ten Champion in the shot put, becoming the first Nittany Lion on the men's side to win the event since Penn State joined the conference. Eaton ended the outdoor season with a personal-best mark of 64-2.50 (19.57) - the second-best toss in the Penn State record books.
Kovacs was also a top contender on the throws scene a year ago, taking bronze-medal honors in the shot at NCAA Indoor - the top finish by a Nittany Lion in the event since the 1991 season. Kovacs was just as outstanding on the Big Ten stage, capturing silver-medal honors in the shot put indoors, as well as a runner-up finish in the discus at the outdoor conference meet. An NCAA-automatic qualifier in the shot indoors with a PR throw of 63-6.25 (19.36), Kovacs would also qualify for the NCAA First Round in two events, competing in both the shot put and the discus.
Foster tore through Penn State's indoor record book last winter, posting school records in the 800-meters (1:47.32) and 1000-meters (2:19.60). Following his third-consecutive conference victory in the 800 at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships, Foster impressed at NCAA Indoor, turning in a third-place finish to earn his second-career All-America certificate. Foster would go on to clock 3:41.26 for 1500-meters outdoors - the third-best effort in Nittany Lion history - and would anchor the Lions' third-place 4x800-meter relay at Penn Relays, which combined to run 7:17.02 - the fourth-best performance by a Penn State foursome.
Williams claimed his first-career All-America finish via an 11th-place effort in the 800 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Williams clocked an impressive 1:48.53 at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame to claim a spot at the national meet. Williams, who was the Big Ten runner-up at 600-meters as a sophomore in 2009, was also a member of the Lions' outstanding middle distance quartet, that set meet and facility records in the 4x800 at the Florida Relays (7:18.72), to go along with their third-place effort at Penn. Individually, Williams was an NCAA First Round qualifier in the 800 during the outdoor season.
Greaves stands to end her Penn State career as one of the most decorated athletes in Nittany Lion history, coming into her senior year with seven All-America finishes to her credit, including a bronze-medal standing in the 200-meters during the 2010 indoor campaign. A dominant force in the conference, Greaves has claimed eight individual titles over the past two years, doubling up in the 60-meters and 200 during the Big Ten Indoor Championships in 2009 and 2010, and winning both the 100-meters and 200 at the past two Big Ten outdoor meets. Greaves, who has also been a member of four conference champion relays thus far, was the world leader in the 200 last indoor season at 22.98.
Duncan had a breakout campaign in 2010, qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter hurdles, where she finished 15th overall. The Big Ten runner up in the event, Duncan clocked a personal-best 57.55 in the event last year, also qualifying for the USATF Outdoor Championships for the first time. Duncan has also been a key leg on the Nittany Lion relays during her career, running on the winning 4x400-meter relay at the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Muzio - the youngest captain of the trio - has been a leader of a young, and talented throws squad during her first two seasons as a Nittany Lion. The team's representative on the Student Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB), Muzio's top performances include top 15 efforts in the shot put at both the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2009. Last year, Muzio took top honors in the shot put at the Penn State Outdoor Open, and posted a second-place finish in the 20-pound weight throw at the Penn State Indoor Relays.
The Nittany Lions are set to tune up for the indoor season with the Blue-White Intrasquad Meet on December 11. The regular season begins on January 8, 2011, with the Penn State Relays.