Jan. 7, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion track and field squads swept the weekly Big Ten awards on Monday, as redshirt junior Mahagony Jones (Cleveland, Ohio), and sophomore Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.) earned Track Athlete of the Week status, while senior Erika Morgan (Chesapeake, Va.), and junior Jon Hendershot (Nazareth, Pa.) copped the weekly honors in the field events. Penn State is coming off a successful season opener at the Penn State Relays last weekend, where the Nittany Lions set a pair of school records, and four meet records en route to a total of 18 event victories.
Jones, who also earned Big Ten honors following her performance at the Lions' season opener a year ago, turned in a conference-leading performance in the 60 meters, and helped her Nittany Lion teammates to two relay victories on the weekend. Individually, Jones clocked a 7.44 in the 60-meter preliminaries - just .03 off her career low - and went on to finish third in the event final. In the relays, Jones led off the Nittany Lions' school-record 1:37.25 in the 4x200-meter relay and was a key leg on the winning 4x400-meter relay (3:41.18). Jones was joined by teammates Kirsten Nieuwendam (Parimaribo, Suriname), Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), and Kiah Seymour (Washington, D.C.) on both winning efforts.
Barrett took runner-up honors in the 60-meter hurdles on the weekend, thanks to a lifetime-best effort of 8.03. The sophomore's performance currently ranks second among Big Ten athletes, and 13th in Division I this season.
Erika Morgan cleared a lifetime-best 5-10.50 (1.79)in the high jump, bettering the rest of the field by more than five inches, last Saturday at the Penn State Relays. Morgan's performance was good for the overall victory, and also leads all Big Ten competitors in 2012-13. The effort, which ranks third all-time in the PSU record books, currently ranks fifth in Division I.
Hendershot also excelled in the high jump, topping out at a personal-indoor best 7-0.50 (2.15), to earn the overall victory. The mark is currently tied for the best effort in the Big Ten, as well as the fourth-best performance in Division I this year.
The Nittany Lions are back in action this weekend, hosting the Nittany Lion Challenge on Saturday, January 12. The event will feature squads from Albany, Cornell, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Pittsburgh.