May 14, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa: May 13, 2011 - Junior Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Ohio) unleashed a blistering kick down the homestretch, capturing gold-medal honors in the 10,000-meters to highlight the Nittany Lions' day-one efforts, Friday at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Cretzmeyer Track on the campus of the University of Iowa. Thanks to Millhouse's winning performance, the Nittany Lion women's squad ranks fourth in the team standings with three of 21 events in the books. Also performing well were junior Anya Uzoh (Laurel, Md.), who stands fourth after five decathlon events, and Brittney Howell (Wyncote, Pa.), who ranks seventh in the women's heptathlon with four events completed.
"Day one ended as expected on the women's side," said Director and Head Coach of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "Kara Millhouse carried the torch, came in as the number-one seeded and executed an extremely tactical race to win her first-career Big Ten title."
On a cold and windy evening in Iowa City, the junior bided her time through the early stages of the grueling 6.2-mile competition, tagging on to Minnesota's Stephanie Price, who shifted the pace of the field right around the half-way mark. Millhouse, along with a group of four Big Ten competitors, then broke away from the rest of the field with a mile to go, with Millhouse making her move with just a lap and a half remaining. Iowa's Betsy Flood, and Wisconsin's Emily Sisson followed suit, before the Nittany Lion kicked into another gear, to finish with a 66-second final lap, and better Flood by nearly three seconds. Millhouse broke the tape in 35:02.33.
Millhouse becomes just the second Nittany Lion to win a Big Ten title in the event, following Kim Kelly, who ran to gold-medal status in 1993.
Howell also held her own against outstanding competition, standing seventh in the heptathlon with 2960 points. Howell enjoyed a solid afternoon overall, including efforts of 14.73 in the 100-meter hurdles, 5-4.5 (1.64) in the high jump, 32-07 (9.93) in the shot put and 26.27 in the 200-meters. Teammate Kelsey Couts (Powell, Ohio) currently ranks 11th in the competition with a 2455-point total.
"Brittney Howell competed well to put herself in scoring position, and displayed outstanding composure for a freshman," continued Sullivan on the efforts of the women's team. "As a women's team, we'll continue to keep the focus on Saturday's prelims to set us up for the finals on Sunday."
Uzoh also posted a solid first day of action in the decathlon, totaling 3648 points over five events. Uzoh started off the day with a bang, thanks to a season-best 11.11 in the 100-meters, which was also the best time in the field on the day. The junior proceeded to remain amongst the event's top contenders in the long jump, recording an effort of 22-3.50 (6.79) - the third-best leap of the day. Uzoh would add a toss of 37-8.75 (11.50) in the shot put, as well as a clearance of 6-3.25 (1.91), before finish off the first half of events with an effort of 51.45 in the 400-meters.
"Our men's team had a little bit of a rough go today, especially due to the inclement weather conditions in the men's hammer," said Sullivan. "Our men's team spirit is being carried by a great day from Anya Uzoh, who is doing a tremendous job of respresenting us in the decathlon. We look forward to executing on Saturday to set us up for a great final day."
Redshirt-freshman Will Barr (Urbana, Ohio) was the top finisher in the men's hammer, going 182-3 (55.56) to place 13th overall. Also turning in a top 15 finish was junior Kyle Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.), who placed 14th in the men's 10,000 with a finishing time of 30:49.56.
In the women's field events, junior Jocelyn Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.) came up just shy of a scoring finish in the women's pole vault, finishing 11th overall with a clearance of 12-4 (3.76), while junior Jane Swenson (Brandon, S.D.) placed 15th in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 163-6 (49.84).
Action picks back up on Saturday, beginning with the men's decathlon 110-meter hurdles at 9:30 a.m. Saturday's slate is also set to include preliminary rounds for most of the track events, as well as several highly anticipated competitions in the field. For more on Penn State track and field, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.