Feb. 11, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Thanks to a school-record and personal-best effort in the mile, sophomore Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) has been named Big Ten Athlete of the Week. Creese zipped to a sizzling 3:57.11 for the mile at the Husky Classic at the University of Washington last weekend. His performance is currently the second fastest in the NCAA this year.
Creese finished as the top collegian in a loaded men's mile field, which included a talented roster of professional and collegiate athletes. Andrew Bumbalough, formerly of Georgetown and now running for the Oregon Track Club, was the eventual winner, crossing the finish line in 3:56.12 - ahead of fellow professional runners Evan Jager, and Donn Cabral.
Creese's PR performance betters Ryan Foster's 3:58.49 from the 2010 campaign, and is also his third career trip under the 4:00 barrier. In fact, two of Creese's sub-4:00s have been run as part of the UW Husky Classic.
The 3:57.11 effort is current second in the national rankings, behind only Oklahoma's Patrick Casey at 3:56.28. The sophomore currently leads the Big Ten standings by more than two seconds, with the conference's second-fastest time belonging to Wisconsin's Austin Mudd at 3:59.33. Creese is also one of four sub-4:00 men in the Big Ten this season, along with teammate Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio), who went 3:59.48 at the Penn State National last month.
The No. 5 ranked Nittany Lion men's squad will send a small contingent to the elite Millrose Games at the historic Armory Track and Field Center in New York City this weekend. Following Millrose, the Nittany Lions will swing into postseason action, competing at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, set for February 22-23, at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.