Feb. 26, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind - The Nittany Lion women's track and field team will have at least one representative in every event at the final rounds at the Big Ten Women's Indoor Championships on Sunday, thanks to an outstanding effort in the day-one preliminaries, Saturday at Lambert Fieldhouse on the campus of Purdue University. Scoring 13 points on the first day of competition, the Nittany Lions saw scoring performances across all event areas, including junior Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.) in the 3,000-meters, freshman Brittney Howell (Wyncote, Pa.) in the pentathlon and the long jump, and the distance medley squad of Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.), Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), Colleen Shannon (Andover, Mass.), and Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.).
The Nittany Lion distance athletes helped to end day one on the high note, beginning with Millhouse's fourth-place performance in the 3K. Holding her own in an outstanding field, Millhouse engineered several surges throughout the closing stages of the race to hold on to fourth place and finish in a personal-best 9:29.59. The effort continued in the DMR, with Shannon running an outstanding 800-meter leg to bring the Nittany Lions into scoring position, and Bower fighting off a hard-charging Wisconsin Badger squad to solidify the Lions' sixth-place finish in a season-best 11:37.49.
Howell enjoyed a stellar first Big Ten appearance, beginning the competition with a sixth-place finish in the pentathlon via a personal-best score of 3509. Following the completion of the pentathlon competition, Howell moved on to the open events, scoring a seventh-place finish in the long jump with an effort of 18-7.25 (5.67).
Senior Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.) continued her string of Big Ten success in Saturday's preliminary rounds, cruising to heat victories and qualifying positions in both the 60- and 200-meters. Greaves sprinted to a finishing time of 7.35 in the 60, good for a heat victory, as well as the third-fastest time of the day. Greaves tore through the competition in the 200, running 23.81, which is also a new Lambert Field House record and the best effort of the day by nearly half a second. Sophomore Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) will also move on to tomorrow's final, thanks to an effort of 8.34 in the 60-meter hurdles. Britton's run was fourth best among competitors on the day.
Also moving on the in the sprints was senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.), who posted a section victory in 56.09 to earn one of the event's automatic-qualifying positions. The Nittany Lions saw two individuals through to the 600-meter final, with junior Ijeoma Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) leading the way in 1:31.80, which was good for a heat win. Freshman Bekka Simko (Mentor, Ohio) advanced on time, running 1:32.83 to earn one of the nine qualifying spots.
The Nittany Lions will also be represented in the middle distances on Sunday, with Ryan earning a qualifying position in the 800-meters, and junior Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) securing a lane in the mile run. Ryan clocked 2:10.96 to place second in her heat and earn one of the time-qualifying spots, while Lane fought off a talented duo of Michigan Wolverine runners to win her mile section in 4:43.84 - the fastest time of the round, and the second-best time of her career.
In the field-event finals, juniors Jocelyn Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.) and Amanda Palenchar (Bradenville, Pa.) came up just short of scoring positions, placing 11th and 12th in the pole vault, respectively, both with clearances of 11-11.75 (3.65).
The final day of competition continues on Sunday, beginning at 12:00 p.m., ET, with the women's 20-pound weight throw, and the women's triple jump. For more on Penn State track and field, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.