June 7, 2011
USTFCCCA Championship Central
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Complete Penn State Postseason Guide
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With eight NCAA All-Americans on its travel squad, the Nittany Lion track and field team will head into the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake University this week, looking to fire on all cylinders and bring home outstanding finishes, both individually and in the team standings. The Nittany Lions' 15-athlete contingent will feature a bevy of seasoned veterans on the national stage, including seniors Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), Blake Eaton (Allegany, N.Y.), Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.), and Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), and redshirt-junior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.), all of whom have NCAA bronze-medal finishes on their resume. The Nittany Lions will be represented throughout all events areas at the championships, including multiple entrants in the women's 400-meter hurdles, women's javelin, men's 800-meters, and men's shot put. The Championships are slated for June 8-11, in Des Moines, Iowa.
About the NCAA Championships -
When: June 8-11, 2011
Where: Drake Stadium (Drake University)
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NCAAs on TV -
Friday, June 10, 6:30pm - 8:30pm CT, CBS Sports Network (cable)
Saturday, June 11, 12:00pm - 2:00pm CT, CBS
The Nittany Lions will field an impressive contingent in the middle distance and distance areas, beginning with 800-meter duo sophomore Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.) and senior Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio). Loxsom, who owns the sixth-fastest effort in the country this season at 1:46.45, will make the trip the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in his young career, and will be in search of his first-career All-America finish, while Borchers will make his first NCAA appearance individually, and second overall. The pair are certainly no strangers to high level competition, as Loxsom is coming off his second-straight Big Ten outdoor title in the event, while Borchers has been on a roll all season, including a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten meet.
Loxsom and Borchers, along with Foster, were all members of the Lions' 7:12.90 effort in the 4x800-meter relay at the Penn Relays, which stands as the seventh-fastest performance in collegiate history. Foster will also look to make a dent individually, taking on the 1500-meter field at the Championships. A three-time NCAA qualifier at 800-meters, the senior has proven he can also hold his own in the longer distances, having place third in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Championships this past winter. The senior will be making his seventh NCAA appearance overall, in just three years with the Nittany Lions.
Following a pair of NCAA appearances in cross country, junior Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.) will be making her first go-around at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, competing in the 10,000-meters. The junior got the outdoor season started with a bang, via a school-record 33:31.93 10K at the Stanford Invitational. On an impressive tear ever since, the junior captured top honors at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the event, becoming just the second Nittany Lion to win gold-medal standing in the grueling 25-lapper.
The Nittany Lions will also be well represented in the throws, led by Eaton and redshirt-junior Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) in the shot put. Eaton, who placed third in the event a year ago, is coming off his second-consecutive Big Ten title in the shot, with Kovacs providing a one-two punch in the second at the conference meet. Both Nittany Lions are ranked in the top 15 nationally for the season, with Kovacs coming in with a season-best toss of 62-0.50 (18.91), and Eaton entering the championships at 61-8.50 (18.81)
Penn State will also send a pair of athletes into competition in the women's javelin, with McQuillen and freshman Laura Loht (McClure, Pa.) on the entry list. McQuillen will cap off a stellar Nittany Lion career, which already includes a trio of All-America efforts - the highest coming with a third-place effort at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year. McQuillen launched a season-best 172-2 (52.48) to lead all competitors at the NCAA Eastern Preliminary, bettering the field by over 10 feet. The senior, and 2011 Big Ten Champion, currently ranks eighth nationally in the event. Loht, the Big Ten bronze medalist in the event, will be making her first-career appearance at the NCAA Championships, via a PR 161-3 (49.14) at the NCAA Eastern Prelim.
Sophomore Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas), senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) and junior Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) will pace the Lions' the sprints and hurdles, with Britton set to double up in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. Duncan and Britton will both be making their second-consecutive appearance in the 400 hurdle field, both coming in with top 20 times in Division I this season at 57.35, and 57.41, respectively. Britton's 13.11 PR in the 100 hurdles is also a top 20 time in the NCAA, as well as the second-fastest mark in Penn State history. Iheoma will compete in the open 400, sprinting to a PR 53.50 in the event at the NCAA Eastern Preliminary to snag her first-career individual appearance at the national meet.
Duncan and Iheoma, along with Greaves and sophomore Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.) will comprise the Lions' entry in the 4x400-meter relay, having run a season-best 3:33.41 to advance to the championships. The Lions have been a mainstay at the top of the heap in the women's mile relay, finishing fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both 2009 and 2010, to build on an NCAA Championship victory in the event in 2008. The same Nittany Lion quartet placed sixth in the event indoors this winter.
Also making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships will be junior Hanif Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa.) in the triple jump. Johnson advanced to the meet via a seventh-place effort at the NCAA Eastern Prelim. Johnson has had an outstanding spring overall, including a victory at the Florida Relays, as well as a third-place finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Going into the championships, Johnson owns a personal best of 51-8.50 (15.76) - the fifth-best effort in the Nittany Lion record books.
Action in Des Moines is slated to begin on Wednesday, June 8. For more on Nittany Lion track and field, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.