March 15, 2014
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Senior Mahagony Jones (Cleveland, Ohio) highlighted day one of competition for the Nittany Lions at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing third in the 200 meters to garner first-team honors. Redshirt-senior Will Barr (Urbana, Ohio) claimed eighth in the weight throw and also earned first-team All-America honors.
"We had a very diverse day... from great performances to great losses," said Head Coach and Director of Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "Mahogany Jones was just amazing. Her third-place performance was executed tremendously and she was outstanding. Kiah Seymour did great making the 400 final and looks in top form as does Za'Von Watkins in the 800m. It was great to see Will Barr compete in a loaded field and come away with All-American honors again.
"On the other side of the coin a very tough loss for our men with Kidder not advancing in the 800m... as well as a rough DMR race for the guys. National championships demand your best and we just didn't have it tonight. We will regroup and get after it again tomorrow."
Will Barr finished eight in the weight throw, earning first-team All-America honors. |
Jones used personal bests in the prelims and finals to race to a third-place finish in the 200 meters. Her preliminary time if 23.09 earned her passage into the finals, where she ran a 22.93 to claim third place and her first career All-America honor. Her time is the second-fastest in Penn State history in the 200. Jones also finished 12th in the 60-meter dash preliminaries on Friday.
Barr's toss of 69-9 (21.2m) in the weight throw earned him eighth place and marked his second career All-American status.
Sophomore Kiah Seymour (Washington, D.C.) continued to keep the nation on notice on Friday, advancing through the preliminary rounds of the 400 meter dash. Seymour qualifies to Saturday's final with a time of 52.58 in which she was able to get out and hold on while pacing off of outdoor champion Ashley Spencer.
Evonne Britton captured second-team All-America honors in the 60 hurdles |
Redshirt-senior Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) finished 12th overall in the 60-meter hurdles, earning her second-team All-America honors. Britton came up short of advancing to the finals after running a 8.22.
On the men's side, sophomore Za'Von Watkins (Liverpool, N.Y.) muscled his way to qualify for the 800 meter run final in a time of 1:51.82. This marks the second-straight year that the Nittany Lions have had an entrant in the men's 800-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Championships, as Casimir Loxsom placed second in the event a year ago. Big Ten Indoor Champion Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio.) came up a bit short finishing in a time of 1:52.02, which did not qualify him to this year's final.
Senior Jon Hendershot (Nazareth, Pa.) finished in a three-way tie for 10th after jumping 7-1/2 (2.15m). The men's Distance Medley Relay finished 11th overall with a time of 9:57.88. Hendershot and the DMR competitors, Kidder, Watkins, junior Wade Endress (Altoona, Pa.) and junior Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) all earned second-team All-American honors for their efforts.
Set to compete tomorrow will be Steve Waithe (Parkville, Md.) in the triple jump at 8:00 p.m. ET and Brittney Howell (Wyncote, Pa.) in the pentathlon at 1 p.m. ET.
Also set to compete tomorrow is the women's 4x400-meter relay, consisting of junior Dynasty McGee (Flint, Michigan), Jones, freshman Tichina Rhodes (Philadelphia, Pa.), and Seymour will enter the meet as the seventh-ranked relay in 2014. In 2014 this line-up remains undefeated, including victories at the Penn State National, Sykes & Sabock Challenge, SPIRE D-1 Invitational, and the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
Action in Albuquerque continues on Saturday. Howell will get things started for the Lions in the pentathlon at 11:00 a.m., MT.