June 8, 2011
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DES MOINES, IOWA: - Sophomore Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.) go the Nittany Lions' NCAA Outdoor Championship run off on the right foot, qualifying through to the 800-meter final, Wednesday at Drake Stadium. Representing the Nittany Lions in a final round was junior Kara Millhouse (Boling Springs, Pa.), who ran to a 19th-place effort in the 10,000-meters, bringing home Honorable Mention - All-America status.
Coming up just shy of a lane in the half mile final was senior Samuel Borchers (Yellow Springs, Ohio), who would place ninth overall - just one spot away from advancing to Friday's eight-man final. On the women's side, a trio of Nittany Lions came up just short of advancing, including junior Ije Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) in the 400-meters, and senior Megan Duncan (North Huntingdon, Pa.) and sophomore Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) in the 400-meter hurdles. Iheoma, Duncan, and Britton won't hang up the spikes just yet, however, as all three Penn State athletes are slated for compete again during the week.
Loxsom bided his time in the middle of the pack through 600-meters, before turning on the afterburners over the final 200-meters to place second in his semi-final heat with a finishing time of 1:47.34 - just off Virginia's Robby Andrews, who nosed Loxsom in a bang-bang finish, going 1:47.17. Borchers missed the finals by a hair, running 1:47.51 to place third in the same heat, and finish ninth overall. Not only is Borchers' finishing time a personal best, the senior will also end his career as the seventh-fastest 800-meter runner in Penn State history.
Samuel Borchers |
"Congrats to Cas on qualifying for his first NCAA Final," said Director and Head Coach of Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "It's a relief for him, as well as the rest of us, to advance through a challenging preliminary format, and get to the final."
With the finish, Borchers will take home his first Second Team NCAA-America certificate, while Loxsom has guaranteed himself a First Team All-America trophy by qualifying for the final.
"It was a tremendous 800-meter run for Sam Borchers, who went out and put himself in contention to make the final, and ran a personal best by over a second," said Sullivan of the senior. "Again, you can't ask more from a young man in such a difficult qualifying system. It's definitely exciting to know that he'll qualify for the USA Championships and have another chance to wear the Blue and White."
Loxsom will join an outstanding field in the final, including UC Irvine's Charles Jock, who blitzed to a sizzling 1:45.77 in the semi, Akron's Willie Brown, Iowa State's Edward Kemboi, UC Santa Barbara's Ryan Martin, Andrews, Oregon's Elijah Greer, and UCLA's Cory Primm. The men's 800 final is slated for Friday, at 7:20 p.m., CDT.
Millhouse ran a gutsy race in her first appearance at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, placing 19th overall in her fourth 10K of the season. The junior, who was the only representative from the Big Ten Conference, crossed the line in 35:44.09. Duke sophomore Juliet Bottorff captured the national title in the event, finishing in 35:25.86.
"What a great persevering effort from Kara Millhouse, in just an excellent women's 10,000-meters competition," continued Sullivan. "I couldn't be more impressed with her junior campaign as it's her first time being a Big Ten Champ and first time to make the NCAA Finals. I'm proud of her composure and willingness to put herself in a race and just fight for 25 laps. I'm very excited to see what's in store for Kara next year."
Iheoma made good on her first-individual NCAA appearance, placing 22nd in the 400 to her All-America Honorable Mention honors. Iheoma finished eighth in her semi-final heat, crossing in 53.94. The junior will be back again tomorrow, with the women's 4x400-meter relay set for Thursday at 8:00 p.m., CDT.
Duncan clocked a finishing time of 57.39 - just .04 seconds off her lifetime best - in the 400-meter hurdles to place 15th overall, and garner Second Team All-America honors. Britton also failed to qualify, running 58.09 to place sixth in her semi-final heat.
"It was a disappointing round for Evonne Britton," said Sullivan said of the hurdle results. "She put herself in the race, but wasn't quite able to finish it and get into the final. Once again, it's a difficult qualifying procedure and puts a lot of pressure on these athletes. Megan Duncan ran a competitive effort and just came up a little bit short. She should be proud of her senior campaign, where she was been running and representing incredibly well."
"We look forward to tomorrow, and we'll see if the preliminary rounds go a little bit better for us in our Thursday events. We'll also have the women's javelin final to look forward to," concluded Sullivan.
Action picks back up tomorrow with the women's javelin competition, set for 3:05 p.m. For more on the Nittany Lions, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.