March 11, 2017
RESULTS
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The final day of the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships saw Penn State make a statement as the women's team finished in the Top-10 as well as multiple All-American performances on the final day of the NCAA Championship meet at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M.
Danae Rivers may be classified as a freshman when it comes to her eligibility, but Saturday night she ran like a seasoned veteran in the final of the women's mile.
The Derby, CT native made her way to the front from the time the gun went off, settling in right up front beside the defending NCAA Champion in the event in Oklahoma State's Kaela Edwards.
Rivers held tight until the final lap with 150-meters left in the race where she used a late race surge to secure the highest finish in the event in Penn State history taking third-place in a time of 4:33.89 surpassing the fourth-place finish by Patty Murnane back in 1982 at the AIWA Championships.
Rivers, the school record holder in the event with a time of 4:32.55, earns her first individual NCAA All-American honor after a historic freshman campaign during the indoor season.
Dannielle Gibson made the most of her final NCAA Indoor Championships finishing the meet with All-American honors in the triple jump.
A senior from Nassau, Bahamas, Gibson recorded her All-American mark in the event on her second jump of the competition where she covered 43'-5" (13.23m) from the board to the pit to become just the third Penn State women to earn All-American honors in the triple jump joining Shakeema Walker and Chi-Chi Aduba with the latter being the current school record holder in the event.
Isaiah Harris earned his first All-American honor in the indoor 800-meters with a fourth-place finish in the finals of the event Saturday night.
Harris, a 2016 NCAA Outdoor All-American and USATF Olympic Trials qualifier in the event, got out of traffic early and set him self up at the front of the pack, holding his position through the 600-meter mark.
The final 200-meters saw the pack push the pace as eventual NCAA Champion in the race UTEP's Emmanuel Korir surged to the front to capture the crown while Harris - just a sophomore - recorded the highest finish in the event at the Indoor Championships by a Nittany Lion since Casimir Loxsom was the National Runner-Up back in 2013.
Penn State has recorded seven All-Americans in the indoor 800-meters since 2010.
Tessa Barrett, who returned to the meet after earning All-American honors last night in the 5,000-mters final, just missed out on doubling-up on her honors as the school record holder in both the 3K and the 5K finished 10th with a time of 9:16.50 - the third fastest time she has ever recorded in the event.
The final event of the competition, the men's 4x400-meter relay, saw the quartet of Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Samuel Reiser and Isaiah Harris turn in a 10th-place finish in the event running 3:07.43 turning in splits of 47.40, 45.72, 47.00 and 47.33.
Penn State finished tied for 10th-place on the women's side scoring 14-points as a team, Oregon won the women's indoor title racking up a meet record total of 84-points en route to the crown.
Penn State will take a week off before heading to Tempe, Ariz. For the start of the 2017 Outdoor season as they take part in the PAC-12/Big Ten Challenge hosted by Arizona State University.
Catch a replay of this weekend's NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships tomorrow Mar. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.