May 15, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa: May 14, 2011 - Headlining an impressive showing by the entire Nittany Lion track and field squad, senior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.) turned in a gold-medal effort in the women's javelin, Saturday at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Cretzmeyer Track. McQuillen's victory was the second by a Penn State athlete on the weekend, following Kara Millhouse's (Boiling Springs, Pa.) winning effort in the 10,000-meters on Friday night.
Despite a driving rain for much of day, a quartet of Nittany Lions would turn in bronze-medal performances, including Doug Moppert (Malvern, Pa.) in the men's long jump, Sean Reilly (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) in the men's high jump, Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) in the women's long jump, and Laura Loht (McClure, Pa.) in the javelin. With eight events in the books, the Nittany Lion women stand second in the team rankings with 43 points, while the Nittany Lion men are on the board with 18 points, which currently ranks eighth.
McQuillen led a 22-point haul by the Nittany Lions in the javelin, capturing her first-career conference title thanks to a toss of 162-10 (49.63). The senior, who finished third in the event at the NCAA Championships a year ago, took top honors by a decisive margin, bettering runner-up and defending champion Maggie Mullen of Ohio State by over 20 feet. Historically speaking, McQuillen is just the second Nittany Lion to win the conference in the women's javelin, joining Stacey Gibbs, who won in 1992.
The Nittany Lions would score four in the event with Loht, who is just a freshman, taking third with a throw of 141-0 (42.97) in her first-career Big Ten appearance. Also stepping up in her rookie appearance at the conference meet was Megan Boyer (Millersburg, Pa.), who took fifth overall with a PR effort of 133-4 (40.63). Classmate Kaitchen Dearborn (New Milford, Pa.) rounded out the effort for the Nittany Lions, placing seventh in the field via a throw of 129-10 (39.57).
Moppert and Reilly would add six points apiece to the Penn State total via third-place finishes - the first-career medal effort for both Nittany Lions. Moppert posted a leap of 23-9 (7.24) to finish just two centimeters shy of a silver-medal finish. Reilly - the reigning Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week - topped out at 6-9.50 (2.07) to place third.
Fung also recorded a career-best conference effort in her final Big Ten go-around, placing third in the women's long jump with a leap of 19-02.75 (5.86). Despite the weather, Fung was consistent all afternoon, posting three attempts at over 19-feet. Junior Jane Swenson (Brandon, S.D.) also turned in a scoring finish in the field events, placing eighth in the shot put with an effort of 45-10.50 (13.98).
In a day field with mostly preliminaries in the running events, sophomore Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.) paced the Nittany Lion effort in the lone track final on the day, placing fifth in 10:25.02.
On the men's side, the Nittany Lions saw scoring finishes from senior Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.) and redshirt-junior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) in the discus. Eaton took fourth in the event with a throw of 166-7 (50.78), while Kovacs placed eighth overall with a mark of 160-6 (48.93).
The Nittany Lions were outstanding across the track prelims, led by senior Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), sophomore Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas), and junior Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.). Greaves cruised to the finals of both the 100- and 200-meters, recording times of 11.84 for 100, and 24.50 for 200 to advance in both events. Iheoma would also move on the 200, turning in an effort of 24.45. The junior also earned a spot in the 400-meter final, along with teammate Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.). The duo would run 54.92 and 54.97, respectively, to claim lanes in Sunday's final. Britton tore through the competition in the hurdling events, sprinting to a personal-best 13.37 - the second-fastest time in qualifying - in the 100-meters hurdles, and coming back to advance in the 400-meter hurdles thanks to a finishing time of 59.77. Senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) would lead the way in the quarter hurdles, clocking the fastest time of the day at 58.43.
In the relays, Iheoma, Anyanwu, Greaves, and freshman Kirsten Nieuwendam (Paramaribo, Surinam) combined to run a season-best 46.08 in the 4x100-meters, earning third in their heat, and advancing to tomorrow's eight-team final.
A foursome of Nittany Lions moved on in the 800-meters, with sophomore Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.) and senior Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio) recording qualifying efforts on the men's side, and senior Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.) and freshman Bekka Simko (Mentor, Ohio) advancing in the women's half mile. The Nittany Lions recorded the top qualifying time in both events, with Loxsom going 1:48.87 to lead the men's field, and Ryan turning in a PR 2:07.69 - the fastest women' time of the afternoon.
The Lions were just as successful in the 1500-meters, with senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), redshirt-freshman Connor Revord (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) all advancing to the next round. Foster earned an automatic-qualifying spot in the men's final via a second-place finish in his heat in 3:50.24, while Revord mounted a gutsy finishing kick down the homestretch to finish in 3:52.58 and capture the 12th-and-final qualifying position. Lane will represent the Lions in the women's final, advancing with a fourth-place finish in her heat, breaking the tape at 4:30.39.
Action in Iowa City picks back up on Sunday morning, beginning with the women's triple jump, and women's discus, both slated for 11:00 a.m., CDT. For more on Penn State track and field, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.