April 27, 2011
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Complete Penn State Meet Notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In one of the most highly anticipated competitions of the outdoor season, the Nittany Lion track and field squads will be ready to fire on all cylinders, this weekend at the 117th running of the historic Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Sending a full contingent of athletes, the Nittany Lions will be poised to contend for Penn Relays victories individually in both the track and field events, and will also be in line to vie for Penn Relays "wheels" in several relay competitions.
Relays
The Nittany Lions have enjoyed an outstanding outdoor campaign thus far, bolstered a bevy of nationally elite performances, including sophomore Casimir Loxsom's (New Haven, Conn.) 1:46.45 personal best in the 800-meters at the Jesse Owens Classic a week ago, which ranks third in the NCAA, and second in Penn State history. Loxsom will likely cover one of the leg on the Nittany Lions' highly touted 4x800-meter relay, which finished third in the event at Penn Relays a year ago. The sophomore will be joined by senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), who also owns a sub-1:47 PR at 1:46.78, and has already run 1:47.83 in 2011. Foster is no stranger to pressure situations, having a pair of NCAA bronze-medal finishes to his credit, including third-place efforts in the indoor 800 in 2010, and the indoor mile run in 2011. The Nittany Lions will not have an easy road to a wheel, however, with stacked middle-distance squads from Virginia - the defending champions in the event, Texas A&M, Connecticut, and Arkansas in the mix.
Penn State could also contend for a wheel in the men's sprint medley, with freshman Brady Gehret (Altoona, Pa.), and redshirt freshman Aaron Nadolsky (Altoona, Pa.) hungry to match their Penn Relays success during their careers at Altoona Area High School. In 2009, the duo helped lead the Mountain Lions to Championship of America appearances in both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Both members of the Lions' fifth-place 4x400 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, along with Loxsom, and senior Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.), the Altoona duo are potentials to cover the opening pair of 200-meter legs on the sprint medley, with Loxsom, Williams, Foster, and senior Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) all in the relay pool to man the 400- and 800-meter carries.
On the women's side, the Nittany Lions will once again be in the thick of things in the sprint medley, and 4x400, coming off a sixth-place finish in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Penn State quarter-mile contingent has enjoyed a solid start to the 2011 outdoor season, with junior Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) recently clocking a PR 54.00 to win the 400 at the Jesse Owens Classic. Sophomore Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.) followed in the event, taking third with a season-best 54.62. Senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.), another member of the Lions' All-America relay indoors, has also been running well, clocking 58.21 for the 400-meter hurdles at Ohio State.
In the distances relays, the Nittany Lions will rely on the middle distance talents of Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.), Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.), Bekka Simko (Mentor, Ohio), and Kalyn Fisher (Lewisburg, Pa.) in the women's 4x800, with Ryan leading the Penn State performance list at 2:08.52 this season. Simko has also been running well, bettering the 2:10 barrier with a 2:09.50 at Florida Relays earlier this month. Lane proved her middle distance credentials during the indoor season, thanks to PRs of 2:08.92 and 4:38.37. The junior would go on to earn Second Team All-America status in the mile indoors.
Individual Track Events
The Nittany Lions will once again send a host of talented athletes into competition during the Penn Relays Distance Carnival on Thursday night, including newly-minted school record holder Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.). Millhouse, who is entered in the 5,000-meters at Penn, blitzed to a school-record 33:31.93 in the 10,000-meters at the Stanford Invitational last month. The time remains the best in the Big Ten, as well as the 10th-fastest effort in Division I this year. Also running the 5K will be sophomore Brooklyne Ridder (Cincinnati, Ohio), who enjoyed a PR 16:25.97 in the event indoors.
Toeing the line in the 3,00-meter steeplechase will be sophomore Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.) and Lindsey Graybill (Macungie, Pa.), and freshman Emily Giannotti (Coudersport, Pa.). Bower - an all-conference finisher in cross country - currently rates fourth in the Big Ten at 10:21.87.
Set to open up their 2011 campaigns are decorated distance runners Kyle Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.), and Vince McNally (Paoli, Pa.). Dawson, who will run the 10,000-meters on Thursday night has consistently run well at the Penn Relays, since anchoring the Coatesville High School DMR to victory in the 2007 Championship of America. Last year, Dawson clocked an impressive 14:08.73 to finish eighth overall in the championship 5K. McNally, who is already a three-time NCAA qualifier in cross country, will open up the season in the 5K, along with teammates Danny Pawola (Naperville, Ill.) and Nick Scarpello (Jameson, Pa.).
Duncan will get things started in the 400 hurdles on Thursday morning, coming in with the second-fastest time in the Big Ten this season. Former teammate Fawn Dorr was the last Nittany Lion to win an individual title on the track, taking the quarter hurdles in 2009.
Field Events
Penn State also stands to take home some hardware in the field events, with throws duo Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) and Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.), representing the Nittany Lions in the Championship Shot Put. Both Nittany Lions have Big Ten titles in the event on their resumes, and have already posted nationally notable performances in 2011. Kovacs currently rates sixth nationally in the event with a season-best toss of 62-0.50 (18.91), with Eaton stands 12th among NCAA competitors this season at 60-6 (18.44). Eaton, Kovacs, and redshirt-freshman Will Barr (Urbana, Ohio) are also in position to make a dent in the discus competition, coming in with PRs of 1863 (56.78), 184-0 (56.08), and 179-0 (54.55), respectively, which rank second, third, and sixth in the conference.
Looking to make a return trip to the top of the podium is senior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) - the defending champion in the women's javelin. McQuillen has been steadily climbing the national rankings over the past several weeks, posting a season-best 169-5 (51.63) at the Jesse Owens Classic, the seventh-best throw nationally, and the farthest toss in the East Region, and in the conference.
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