June 10, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa: June 10, 2011 - In a rollercoaster of an afternoon, including inclement weather, and several weather-related delays, the Nittany Lions women's 4x400-meter relay advanced through the semi-final round to Saturday's final, highlighting the Penn State effort, Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium. Closing out competition for the weekend in the field events, and turning in Second Team All-America finishes were senior Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.), and freshman Laura Loht (McClure, Pa.) in the women's javelin. Also competing, but coming up short of advancement were Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) in the 100-meter hurdles, and senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) in the 1500-meters.
The 4x400 relay quartet of sophomore Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), senior Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), junior Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) and senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) took to the track in the semi-final round, sprinting to a season-best 3:31.76 to automatically advance via a second-place finish in their heat. The effort will mark the fourth-straight appearance for the Nittany Lions in the 4x400 final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, beginning with Penn State's NCAA-winning performance in the event in 2008. The Lions' 2008 time of 3:27.69 remains the Drake Stadium record.
The Nittany Lions, who were running in the second of three heats of the 4x400, crossed the finish line as the rains came, which led to a near three-hour delay before the competition was finally officially postponed after 11:00 p.m., CDT. The third and final qualifying heat will be run on Friday.
McQuillen and Loht led the Nittany Lions in the field, with the senior recording a toss of 157-3 (47.93), coming up just short of a spot in the nine-women final, as the mark ranked 10th overall. Loht posted a solid competition in her first NCAA appearance, going 152-4 (46.44) - the second-best mark of her collegiate career - to place 15th overall. Both Nittany Lions will earn Second Team All-America citations for their efforts.
Britton also suffered "first one out" status, placing ninth in the 100-meter hurdles. Britton ran a near-personal best in the event, going 13.12 to place third in her heat. Britton's time was just .01 seconds off the eighth and final qualifying spot. After also making an individual appearance in the 400-meter hurdles on Wednesday, the sophomore will take home Second Team All-America honors for her performance in the short hurdles.
Also enduring an unfortunate result was senior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), who hit the track in the pile up with 400-meters to go in his 1500-meter prelim, and failed to advance. Foster ends his career as three-time NCAA All-American, including two bronze-medal efforts at the national level.
Action for the Nittany Lions will pick back up with the men's shot put, which is set for 5:30 p.m., on Friday. The NCAA will announce the updated time schedule for the events that were postponed on Thursday at 8:00 a.m., Friday morning.
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