March 11, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas: March 11, 2011 - Senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) and freshman Brady Gehret (Altoona, Pa.) are still in the hunt for a national title, qualifying for the final round of the respective events, Friday at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University. Meanwhile, another quintet of Nittany Lions will add another bullet point to their resumes, as seniors Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.), Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.), and Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), junior Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.), and sophomore Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.) each earned Second-Team All America status.
Foster bided his time in the middle of the eight-man field throughout the majority of the race, before swinging to the outside of the pack and sprinting to a third-place finish within his preliminary heat. Foster closed with a 27.93-second 200-meters on the final lap, clocking 4:01.10 - the third-best time of the round - in a blanket finish which spanned less than half a second from first through sixth place. Foster will be joined by elite group of nine other competitors in Saturday's final, including Chris O'Hare of Tulsa, Miles Batty of BYU, Michael Hammond of Virginia Tech, Jeff Thode of Iowa, Dumisane Hlaselo of Florida, Duncan Phillips of Arkansas, James Cameron of Washington, Riley Masters of Maine, and Erik Van Ingen of Binghamton.
Historically speaking, Foster will be the first Nittany Lion to appear in the men's mile final since Steve Balkey finished 10th in the event in 1988.
Gehret impressed in his first-ever NCAA appearance, sprinting to a finishing time of 46.57 in the 400-meters, good for a lane in tomorrow's eight-athlete final. Gehret's effort was the second fastest in his heat - behind Georgia's Torrin Lawrence at 46.35 - and the sixth best time of the round. Florida's Tony McQuay led all qualifiers with a finishing time of 45.82. Gehret also proved to be the best in his class as the lone freshman in the 400 final.
The freshman's performance is also notable in the Nittany Lion record books, as the freshman stands to be the first All-America in school history in the indoor 400-meters. Mike Sands earned three All-America finishes in the 440 yards - including a national title in 1975 - before the event moved to the metric distance in 1984.
Lane also held her own in her first-career appearance at the NCAA indoor meet, placing 14th overall in the women's mile run. For her efforts, Lane will earn Second-Team All-America honors - the first All-America finish of her collegiate career. Greaves also earned an All-America finish on the track, capturing Second Team honors via a 12th-place finish in the 200-meters. Greaves crossed in 23.47 in her preliminary heat.
Eaton and Kovacs represented the Nittany Lions in the field events, scoring 12th and 14th places, respectively in the men's shot put. Eaton posted a throw of 61-0 (18.59), while Kovacs ended the evening with a toss of 59-10.25 (18.24).
The Nittany Lions will wrap up the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday, beginning with Foster in the mile final at 5:10 p.m., CST. Gehret will follow at 5:50 p.m., CST, while the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays will conclude the competition at 7:10 p.m., and 7:25 p.m.