Feb. 5, 2011
Full Results
Women's Pentathlon Results
Team Scores
Caitlin Lane Interview
Blake Eaton Interview
Beth Alford-Sullivan Interview
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Both the Nittany Lion men's and women's track and field squads captured team titles, thanks to over a dozen victories, Saturday at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Among the bevy of outstanding performances were stellar victories from senior Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.), who earned a victory in the men's shot put on his final attempt, as well as junior Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) and freshman Brady Gehret (Altoona, Pa.), who both enjoyed blue-ribbon performances for the third-straight competition.
The Nittany Lion men ran away with the team title, totaling 172 to nearly double up on Cornell in second place with 91 points. Princeton rounded out the top three with 64 points, while Liberty turned in a fourth-place effort with 59. On the women's side, the Nittany Lions fought off a highly competitive Cornell squad, to win the event title 154-130.50. Big East foe South Florida took third overall with 74 points, while East Carolina finished fourth with 67.
Eaton, who was behind going into his final attempt, tossed a personal-indoor best 62-01.25 (18.93) to win the Sykes-Sabock title for the second year in a row. Eaton's performance is also one of the top marks in the country this year, standing among the top 10 best puts in Division I. Teammate Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) also fared well, taking third overall with a throw of 60-8.75 (18.51).
Seniors Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.), Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), and Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) also made the best of their final appearance at Ashenfelter Indoor Track, all earning individual victories in their respective events. Foster, who improved the Penn State mile standard to 3:58.49 last week, captured an event win in the 800-meters, going 1:49.29, with fellow senior Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.) taking third in 1:50.15. Williams was also a victor in the middle distances, 1:19.73 to win the 600-meters.
In the women's middle distances, Lane won her third-consecutive race of the indoor season - remaining undefeated at home during her junior campaign - winning the women's 800-meters in a PR 2:08.92.
Greaves took top honors in the women's 60-meters - posting a finishing time of 7.47 - to go along with a runner-up effort in the 400-meters at 53.89. Teammate Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.) was third in the quarter mile, finishing in 55.08. The duo also made up two legs of the winning 4x400-meter relay, which clocked 3:40.17, with relay mates Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.), and Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.). The victory was the second on the day for Iheoma, who also won the 600 in 1:30.90 - the fourth-best effort in the conference this year.
Sophomore Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) also turned in a victory in the sprints, taking the 60-meter hurdles in 8.45. Gehret captured his third-straight victory in the 200-meters, winning in 21.36. The rookie has yet to lose the one lapper in his collegiate career.
Fung was a winner in the field, thanks to a season-best leap of 20-2.25 (6.15) to top the field in the women's long jump. Junior Doug Moppert (Malvern, Pa.) made it a clean sweep for the Nittany Lions in the long jump with a jump of 24-3 (7.39) to edge the second-place competitor by just over two inches. Freshman Marlene Ricketts (Westbury, N.Y.) added another Lion victory in the horizontals, finishing first in the triple jump with a collegiate PR 39-10.50 (12.15). Junior Tanaya Lloyd (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed in second with a season-best leap of 39-3.75 (11.98).
The Nittany Lions also turned in dual victories in the men's and women's distance medley relays, with the men running to victory in 10:08.36, and the women's team taking the event title in 11:41.68. The men's squad included Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio), Steve Morrone (Sewell, N.J.), Mark Fuller (Camp Hill, Pa.), and Tyler Corkedale (West Windsor, N.J.), while the women's relay was comprised of Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.), Candace Carson (Park Forest, Ill.), Tori Perri (Philadelphia, Pa.), and Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.).
Penn State will split its squads and hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to a trio of competitions, including the Akron Invitational at the University of Akron, the Flotrack Husky Classic at the University of Washington, and Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas. All three meets are slated from February 12-13.
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