March 1, 2011
Complete Big Ten Men's Release | Complete Big Ten Women's Release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Thanks to outstanding performances at last weekend's Big Ten Indoor Championships, six members of the Nittany Lion track and field team earned All-Big Ten first team honors, while another trio of Penn State athletes captured spots on the all-conference second team, announced by conference offices on Tuesday. Headlining the Nittany Lion honorees were seniors Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) and Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), who both claimed their third-consecutive indoor conference title in their respective events, with Foster making it three in-a-row in the men's 800-meters, and Greaves topping the women's 200-meter field for the third-straight indoor season.
Also garnering first-team accolades was senior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.), who captured his first career conference title thanks to an NCAA-automatic qualifying throw of 65-1.25 (19.84) in the shot put. The women's 4x400-meter quartet - comprised of Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.), Greaves, and Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) also earned slots on the first team in their event victory, running a new Lambert Field House record - 3:37.80. Penn State has dominated the relay for the better part of the past decade, winning the last six indoor conference crowns in the event.
Earning second team nods via silver-medal finishes were sophomore Casimir Loxsom, freshman Brady Gehret (Altoona, Pa.) at the men's meet, and junior Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) on the women's side. Loxsom placed second in the 600-meters - running 1:17.63 - while Gehret turned in runner-up effort in the 400-meters, finishing in 47.19. Lane earned silver-medal standing in the mile run, clocking 4:43.44.
Also earning recognition were junior Chris Cipro (Harmony, Pa.) and senior Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.), who were both recipients of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Cipro completed the 3,000/5,000-meter distance double at the men's meet, placing 17th in the 3,000, and 19th in the 5,000. Ryan, who was competing in her first Big Ten track and field championship after a four-year soccer career at Penn State, finished fourth in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:10.60.